From Where Dreams Come
by butterfly collective
Summary: Here's a blurb that takes place as Matt is at the altar and someone crashes the wedding with smoke bombs...what does it mean?  Just borrowing the characters.
1. Chapter 1

Okay, Glimmer of Twilight is getting a bit grim so I did a blerb today…I hope it makes sense because it's a bit strange. Hope you enjoy it and thanks for reading!

* * *

It rushed into the church, the figure dressed in black and wearing a baseball cap. In front, the pews on both sides of the aisle had been filled with elegantly dressed men and women sitting there, several fanning their faces with their programs because it had been quite warm inside, what with the wedding of the month being held on a midsummer night.

She looked down the aisle where the couple stood at the end, the bride dressed in white, with cascading train that most likely had its own attendant and the veil ornamented by beads of diamonds. The groom dressed simply in a black tux, the jacket covering his muscular build.

A minister stood before the couple, thumbing through the Bible which lay on a podium in front of them. His brow intent on finding just the right passage to send the two of them into marital bliss.

Or barring that marital contentment.

The figure at the other hand put its hand on its hip, just watching the ceremony get rolling. The procession had likely been very lovely, the bridemaids dressed in soft lavender carrying bouquets, the two little flower girls who stood there with their baskets looking aimlessly towards the audience.

The organist quit playing the march and the minister with his stoll around him cleared his throat.

"All right everyone…we are gathered here today to celebrate the entrance of these two individuals into the holiness of matrimony."

The figure watched and sighed, there wasn't anything holy about this proposed merger disguised as matrimony. And one of the parties entering into it was about to make a terrible mistake.

One that was about one minute away from being rectified, as the figure looked at its watch.

* * *

Matt just stood there dressed in his penguin suit in front of a crowded church filled with people, some of which he knew, many he didn't as the minister prepared to begun the ceremony. He looked over at his bride who stood there waiting coolly, her icy blonde hair coiffed neatly above the nape of her neck and a diamond necklace bordered by sapphires around her neck. The dress had been tailored by Vera Wang based on a design which had been passed along by her mother from her own ceremony and she wore the engagement ring that Matt had given her when he had proposed after their whirlwind courtship of a month since he rescued her from some bad guy on a case he had been investigating. His third fiancee that had been a client of his endangered by some major villain but who paid attention?

Well except for his business associate C.J. of course who was not standing beside him at the altar and in fact, had decided not to even sit in the audience of his wedding. A big deal because it actually looked like he was getting married this time.

She had stood before him earlier in the week, her hand on her hip and rolling her eyes at him.

"I can't believe this Houston…you're marrying a woman you've known what…a month? Though that's quite an improvement on proposing to women you've only known a few weeks or days…"

"C.J. I would really like it if you would support me here."

She sighed, running her hand through her luscious mane of mahogany hair and when she looked back up at him, her hazel eyes almost looked weary underneath all that fire.

"I…can't…this woman is not who you think she is," she said, "though that might not matter to you…maybe it's this aura of mystery…"

He sighed.

"I know her enough to know I want to marry her."

She just shook her head.

"Okay…fine…then marry her," she said, "but I'm not going to sit in some church and watch this train wreck…I'll be…away and hoping that somehow you'll come to your senses."

Matt remembered that she had been angry but he realized she had also been concerned and why was that? Elisa was a beautiful lady who was pleasant to be around and who needed him and after Elizabeth had walked out on him and his dangerous and unpredictable lifestyle, he really wanted to be needed. Okay there weren't any major sparks between them but they were certainly compatible.

And then with one look C.J. had walked out on him and hadn't been seen since.

That had bothered him a lot that his best friend couldn't stand by him on the most important day of his life. Elisa's brother, Maxwell had been trying to get Matt to finance one of his new inventions in the area of sonar technology and Matt had agreed to look at it after he and Elisa returned from their honeymoon.

Now he stood here at the altar scarcely believing it, trying to restrain himself from pulling on his tie and from thinking about another woman who had walked away.

* * *

The figure crept up the side aisle without being seen because everyone's attention remained focused on the ceremony which had just gotten started. Suddenly, it reached into its bag that it had slung over the shoulder after it walked fairly close to the front. It looked around while palming a round device that had been activated with a simple flick of a small switch.

Then the time began to count down.

"Mr. Houston…do you take this woman here to be your lawfully…"

The round object went flying in the air after the figure tossed it and hit the cobbled floor with a clatter. Eyes focused on it, puzzled at first as it hissed on the ground and then…BOOOM, a cloud of thick smoke shrouded the front part of the church and another object of similar size landed nearby and did the same, sending more smoke and the guests began to wonder if it wasn't a good time to vacate the church.

Matt stared out in the smoke after shielding his bride who looked awfully piqued at what had happened.

"Matt…what is this?"

He seriously didn't know so he couldn't really answer. Could this be some kind of organized hit involving Elisa's family, the Miami branch for example who had shown up with all their Rolls Royce and were clearly packing when they had attended the wedding rehearsal last night. It could also be the Vegas group who had been trying to resist an overthrow by the Miami group of their gambling operations. He hadn't really been knowing what he had chosen to marry into because he had been so caught up in the haze of meeting up with Elisa on a trip to the strip after his aborted wedding to Elizabeth.

But a figure came toward him just when he had stood up again, wondering why he hadn't worn his own gun. Yeah it was his wedding day but you would think he would have learned over what had happened last time. The figure looked into his eyes, its hair hidden by the baseball cap and something familiar…never mind what did this person want with him?

"Come with me…"

"But you just threw a bunch of stun grenades…"

It shrugged.

"They won't hurt anyone, they're just noisy and the smoke's pretty noxious."

The minister had begun calling for calm in the chaotic environment but no one really listened and people started panicking pushing out of the pews into the narrow aisles. Matt guessed the wedding was off for now. Roy had been sitting out in the audience and had remain unperturbed by the uproar, but Matt caught a trace of what looked like relief on his face beneath his no nonsense demeanor. What was it with those who were close to him that they all seemed to be against this marriage? But he was a grown man and he could make his own decisions.

"Why should I go with you?"

The figure pulled out another stun grenade.

"Because I have one left and I have half the mind to stuff it down your pants."

He looked perplexed.

"What the…"

The figure gestured, its svelte build looked wait a minute here…female? No doubt about it, and Matt thought a profile view would clinch it.

"Matt…"

That would be his bride who still lay on the ground wondering why her wedding day had gone up in smoke. Matt didn't know that either but maybe there was one way to find out.

He put up his hands.

"Okay, okay…I'll go with you," he said, "Just don't hurt anyone."

The figure tilted her head.

"No one's hurt here…and now one person won't be."

Hmm, that sounded a bit enigmatic to Matt but he finally followed the figure as they weaved their way through the throngs which still packed the twin aisles. They headed through the alcove in the back and then out the double doors, into the warmness of night.

"Get in the car," the figure said as they reached a convertible.

He turned to face her.

"No…and who the hell are you anyway?"

The figure just shook her head and looked at him seriously.

"Those men are not who you think," she said, "They're after your company…"

"What…"

"No time to explain now," she said, "Just get into the car and I'll tell you later."

Matt grabbed her arm.

"You'll tell me now."

The figure wrenched her arm away.

"Don't…I'm saving your ass here and it will become clear enough to you soon."

Matt just stood there suddenly speechless.

"But my fiancee…"

"Has a role to play in the script too…now get in the car."

He finally did, sitting shotgun while the figure got on the driver's side and started up the engine which screamed to life. She looked over and saw men coming out with guns drawn.

They sped away just as the men reached the car and Matt braced for the gunshots which thankfully didn't come. They raced down the city streets until they reached a bluff over a sandy beach where the glistening water caressed the edges of the shore. They just sat in the car looking out there and Matt didn't know what to think and he looked over at the figure which sat there with him, dressed in black jeans, a sweater and a jacket. Mahogany hair began to slip from beneath the cap betraying the figure's identity and recognition struck him.

"I know you…"

The figure removed her hat and the hair fell around her shoulders and her mouth curved into a smile.

"Of course you do…you've always known…"

Matt found himself looking at his long-time business associate and lifetime friend C.J.

* * *

They hid out in a beach house that she had broken into with a credit card like he taught her because he knew that Elisa's cousins would come after them for what just happened. But C.J. explained that Elisa's cousins were as close to Mafia as what was left in the country and that they had been trying to rope his conglomerate into it.

"I had no idea…"

She rolled her eyes at him again.

"That's because you men don't always think with your brains Houston."

He frowned, tearing off that hated tie.

"That's not fair…"

She sighed as she looked out the windows.

"Okay, you met up with her on that case we worked on…she clung to you because she needed a man to protect and save her from an enemy of her family…and then you ask her to marry you?"

"That's not quite how it went," Matt said, "We spent some time on my yacht."

They had taken off sailing to Hawaii not long after the bad guys had been scooped up by Lt. Hoyt and other police and he had told her and Roy that he would keep in touch. And he did, to tell them that he was engaged to be married again. She had been quite upset about it once the shock wore off but Roy had told her that Matt probably had just been attracted to Elisa because she reminded him of Elizabeth and he was still mending from that broken relationship but that his nephew would come to his senses in time to call it off.

Only he hadn't not if she had to burst into some church like some Ninja something lobbing smoke bombs to get him out of there.

Matt just stared at her, sitting there on the edge of the king sized bed with the 500 thread sheets underneath, dressed in a form fitting outfit meant to conceal her in the shadows and wearing an irritated expression on her face.

"Houston…the family you were marrying into are bad news…when I went to set things straight with one of your future brother in laws, he threatened not so nicely to put a bomb in my car."

"A what?"

"You heard me…a bomb in my car…is that what you really want, to marry a woman who might rock your boots off but whose family makes threats?"

Matt's heart plunged at that revelation, that anyone would threaten to harm the woman…well the woman who was very important to him in all ways but one…and that had been through a mutually agreed upon decision.

"C.J. she didn't really rock my boots," he said, "I don't think she's that kind of girl."

Now C.J. looked at him dumbfounded.

"Then why did you want to marry her then?"

Matt struggled in his mind to find the answers but now they proved to be somewhat more elusive than they had been even yesterday.

"I don't…"

"Of course you don't…because you didn't think it through first," she said, shaking her head, "and because guys like you always go for women like…"

He held up his hand.

"Wait a minute here, why are you telling me what I like…and assume there's a type of woman?"

She shrugged.

"Because I've watched you and you always go for the women who need your help, or to be rescued. Fiancees number one, two and now her."

Matt really hadn't noticed but he did notice that C.J. looked especially lovely in form fitting black. The woman had a figure that had muscle but also curved in some really nice places. Wait a minute, what was going on here, he had just been standing at the altar with someone who C.J. had just described as a mafia princess and he…well he wasn't thinking of her right now.

"You really need to…where are you right now…"

Because he had appeared to be in a daze, oh well maybe some of the smoke from those grenades had gotten to him. The instructions had said they were harmless but maybe…

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

Soft music began to play in the background from where, he had no idea and the room had become bathed in luminance.

"Houston…"

He walked over to her and pulled her off from where she sat on the bed, into his arms, wrapping them around her waist.

"What…is this…"

His eyes bore directly into her own.

"What does it look like," he said, before his lips swept over hers and he ran his hands through that luscious mane of hair he had wanted to touch…well for the past five minutes at least…strange how something had changed, the room, the lighting and his focus. His hands left her hair and ran down her body where the fabric hugged her frame. She sighed and then she let him explore her mouth with her own…just a second ago she had been fed up with him and now…well obviously not.

"It's you I want…."

She blinked as he swept her off of her feet and carried her.

"Houston, this makes no sense…is this real or is this a dream?"

Matt didn't care at that point as he moved them closer to the bed…but yeah it did seem a bit funny that he had been standing at the altar with someone else and now…

"We'll make it real…"

Okay, she thought, that works for me as she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him again.

Then the squeal of tires outside the beach house interrupted them and he hastily put her down when they heard voices and footsteps loudly just outside.

"Houston…they found us."

His heart beat quickly as he looked around for a place to hide but suddenly, gunshots rang out and the glass from windows splintered and exploded towards them, showering them with a fine mist of ground sand.

"We can't just stand here…"

So they collapsed behind the bed, while bullets flew around them.

"Maybe they'll go away," he said, but wondered if that were true.

"Houston…"

Her breath had become jagged and he gazed down and his eyes widened as he saw a stain widening on her shirt, one shade darker than its material. Matt put his hand on it and it felt damp, his fingers laced with blood when he removed them.

His heart froze as he realized what had been happen…the bullets kept coming like crescendos in his ears…the blood streamed down his fingers onto the carpet. Her face became ashen, draining of its life and her eyes fluttered.

"Nooooo…."

But no one could hear him over the whistling of bullets and the pounding of the walls getting struck and penetrated by multiple rounds. Suddenly, as he embraced the woman in his arms, the colors began to blur and fade and whirl around him, again and again and again.

And then the darkness of the room around him.

* * *

Matt found himself drenched in sweat in the bed of the motel that he had been staying at while trying to figure out what to do. What plan to put in action for the tomorrows that had just become today.

He gazed over at the wedding announcement, the ceremony that was going to take place today between the woman who meant everything to him and the man that had swept her off of her feet a month earlier…the man who Matt knew was not what he appeared to be.

If he had only responded when she had told him she loved him…

As that thought hit him, he got out of bed to get ready to get going, to get to the church in time. Looking at his watch, he could see time was not on his side but he had the most important act of his life to take.

He had a wedding to stop.


	2. Chapter 2

Matt jumped into his Porsche, the dream still lingering inside of his head. Imagine him dreaming that C.J. had decked herself in some dark but figure hugging clothes to spring him from his own wedding.

Funny how a person could dream something that was a complete reversal of reality. That being it had been his business associate and best friend who was scheduled to get married today to Elliot Jordan a businessman who had ties into organized crime. Oh C.J. hadn't known that when they had been engaged in a whirlwind courtship during a holiday in Milan and Paris but Matt had discovered this when he had run the obligatory and every extensive background check on her future husband. He hadn't told her this because he knew she wouldn't like it. She would tell him it was much ado about nothing but in the case of Elliot, it hadn't been nothing at all.

The guy was a stone cold sociopath tied to a string of hits throughout Europe, some possibly at the same time that he had been romancing C.J. That's what his sophisticated computer software had told him, but the problem was, how would he now explain this to C.J.? After all, she was now preparing to walk down the aisle at a small chapel overlooking the Pacific Ocean up near Bodega Bay.

He looked at his watch, which showed that he had just a few hours to make it before she exchanged vows with Elliot. If traffic cooperated, he might jet there in half the normal time so he kicked his sports car into gear and turned onto Highway 1.

Sure enough the traffic was light in the direction he headed and he merged into the fast lane.

C.J. looked in the mirror dressed in her slip, which accented her tanned shoulders. She had woken up that morning alone in the suite because Elliot had told her the previous night he had some business to attend to, but would be finished in plenty of time to get ready for their wedding. She fingered her engagement ring which was a diamond set amid sapphires, very elegant. It hadn't been on her finger long at all, about two weeks when he had proposed to her while they picnicked on the beach in Santa Barbara.

Matt hadn't been in town when C.J. and Elliot had returned as an engaged couple. He had been working on a case with Roy in New York City and well, she and Elliot just couldn't wait to get married. They would start with a simple ceremony and then in a month or two would hold a more public wedding.

Then they would buy a house to live in together as man and wife before of course starting a family. C.J. always had wanted to have children and at first, Elliot hadn't seemed as enthused but he had warmed on the issue so much in the past week.

He had told her that he just wouldn't be around that much. That he had to travel on work for weeks at a time and that he might have to leave on an assignment at a moment's notice. She had been so into him that she hadn't really cared at the time that he might not be there much leaving her an empty house.

Someone knocked on the door and C.J. knew it was Delilah, her future sister in law who was very beautiful, a talented actress but who clearly didn't think C.J. was right for her favorite brother.

"Are you getting ready," Delilah asked.

C.J. still stood before the mirror.

"Not quite yet," she said, "I've got the dress out and ready but there's still time."

The other woman dressed in her bridesmaid outfit, a peace gown with puffy sleeves didn't hide her pout.

"If I didn't know better, I would think you're dragging your feet here on marrying my brother."

C.J. shook her head.

"I'm not Delilah, I'm sorry you feel that way but no, I'm not bailing out on the wedding…you're just going to have to accept that."

Her scowl told C.J that wouldn't come easily or freely but she knew that despite her animosity towards her, she did love her brother dearly and would behave herself if only to please him.

"And if I ever find you have a lover on the side, I will slit your throat myself."

C.J. gave her a strange look. Now that was a bit extreme, she thought, she would never cheat on her husband…not even with…her mind lingered on another man, with dark hair and strong features right down to his muscular frame. Throw a chambray shirt and some rugged jeans complete with chaps…and it would start getting warm in here. But when she had told him for the umpteenth time that she loved him and he hadn't answered, that had been it.

Because he had answered to that by assuring her nothing would change between them and their business if he married Elizabeth and yet she knew that everything would be different especially if he listened to his fiancée's pleas to give up investigating cases.

Mercifully it hadn't come to that but

And then this golden opportunity arose when Elliot returned in her life. She had gravitated towards him and he had swept her off of her feet. Their romance if not based on love at least had brought excitement into her life. She had tried to contact Matt and tell him of her plans but he was unreachable, working undercover in some assignment with Roy.

Well, he would know that she had gotten married soon enough when he returned. But for her, marriage would change a lot because she would be leaving L.A. to move to New York. Jordan had a home base there with his family and she could get a job working as an attorney in a firm or start one of her own.

A stab of guilt filled her that she hadn't told Matt of her plans, that she hadn't told him she would no longer be living and working in the same city but she figured she had time when he returned before heading east towards her new life.

She looked over at her dress lying on her bed, creamy white with nice cuffs on the sleeves and a lengthy train. Not exactly her style but Elliot had recommended that he use the designer who had worked on dresses for the brides in his family.

Then she sat on the bed to think of someone, not her future husband but the man she loved instead.

Matt stopped while the elderly man herded his ostriches across the road to the other side. He had heard of the giant birds being raised on farms and harvested for their meat but the sight in front of him made him shake his head. Nothing, not anything, would replace cattle in his mind as a form of succulent meat.

He looked at his watch and figured he had dressed up in the right attire to be unnoticed in the crowd. The "smaller" ceremony advertised on the invite still would involve over 100 guests.

The road finally cleared and Matt wondered if he had lost valuable time to get to the church. But he figured, weddings never started exactly on time did they? His one own experience had been testimony to that…not that it actually lasted very long before being sabotaged by a psychotic killer.

He thought back to the desperate actions of C.J. in the dream where she had used of all things, smoke bombs to end his own ill advised wedding but what would he do to stop hers?

He had packed heat, including his great granddaddy's turkey shooter but he didn't have any other weapons in case those who might oppose his actions might take a shot at him in order to keep the wedding on track.

But he knew he had to stop it because C.J. just couldn't marry this hit man, who had tried to masquerade himself off as a unassuming businessman. He knew that if he could just find C.J. and talk to her, talk her out of this crazy wedding then she would be safe and they could return back to L.A. But he knew that she might not go for any attempts he made to tell her what to do, like not get married to the man she fancied. He ran through all kinds of plans and scenarios in his head minus a few that involved hiring mercenaries to help him in case he could think of one that might work.

After all, he knew it had been his fault, because she had told him her feelings about him and he had brushed them off. Because he had been engaged at the time but that hadn't worked out. So he had worked hard at his investigating firm to forget about all that and when this undercover assignment had come up in New York, he just couldn't pass it up.

But it had been a couple of months and when he returned, the entire world had changed. Well mostly things were the same except that C.J. had ran off and gotten herself engaged to someone she had barely known a month. He had finished his assignment in a flurry of violence which he narrowly escaped death and then had checked his phone messages and emails for the first time in a while and had found a lot of them asking him how he felt about the big news about the engagement.

What engagement, he had asked himself until his eyes widened when he saw it involved C.J. and some guy named Elliot.

But Elliot was no businessman, he was on the payroll of mobsters, the same batch that he and Roy had been investigating. In fact, he had seen this Eliot character in photos with a capo or two on some deep sea fishing trip which probably involved pulling fish out and throwing some bigger ones with cement flippers into the water.

He looked at his watch as the time continued to elapse without mercy and pressed the accelerator making the car roar. He had to make it to the church on time and time was running out.

C.J. wandered back into the suite she shared with her fiancée to find her shoes, the pair she would be wearing for the wedding and that's when she saw the folder on the floor, half hidden beneath the bed.

She pulled it out curious, and opened it before wondering whether she should or not, before she could chastise herself for snooping on her husband.

And that's when she saw the photos.


	3. Chapter 3

Another update is up, thanks for reading and the feedback!

* * *

C.J.'s eyes widened when she saw the photos which showed close-ups of two men that she knew had been killed in what were believed to have been accidents…well at least the first one which had been a car that had somehow gone off of a mountain road and wound up two hundred feet down into a ravine. The man that it had taken a day to retrieve back up to the surface had been an accountant who had blown the whistle on money laundering in a company that belonged to a business friend of Elliot's.

The other had been killed in some sort of accidental discharge involving his hunting rifle while tracking a 14 point buck in Colorado. He had been a business partner of another man who had some sort of business connection with her fiancé.

But they were not intentional deaths by any means, she had thought when reading about them in the newspaper and then asking Elliot about them. He had said they were both tragedies but that accidents often couldn't be anticipated for prevented and then he had moved on to the next subject which had been the house they planned to live in after their wedding or their honeymoon plans.

Now looking at the photos with circles around them, she couldn't ignore the obvious. That photos of men who had died had been kept by him and the circles…they looked like the two men had been some kind of target.

She ran her hand through her hair as she stood there in her slip, the pictures in her hand before she replaced them where she'd found them. What was going on here, she thought quickly, then thought she had to talk to him about what she had found, ask for some explanation and wait to hear it from him.

Then again, if he had something to do about it…no he couldn't.. Not Elliot.

C.J. sat on the bed and put her head in her hands, trying to think about what to do, trying not to think that she might have become engaged to another man who wasn't what he appeared.

* * *

Matt drove his car up the winding mountain road up to the estate at the top of it, where the view must be absolutely amazing down onto the fabric of forests intermixed with meadows and a river that wove through them both like a ribbon. He had seen photos of the house and the surrounding grounds in quite a few architecture magazines. As he approached the top, he noticed that a huge tent had been set up out in a grassy area and that men and women dressed in uniforms were bustling around setting up for what had been billed as the wedding of the month.

Huge gates loomed ahead and he knew he had to come up with a plan to get inside. He had never met this Elliot but he had seen him while conducting surveillance so he knew what he looked like. But he didn't know how much Elliot knew or had heard about him. They didn't exactly move in the same business or social circles but he couldn't take any chances so he had brought along a disguise. He stopped the car up the road and changed inside it to pose as security; an assignment he felt would get him close enough to C.J. to talk some sense in to her.

He looked down at his black pants and shirt, he had packed a gun that would be similar to those carried by security here and he walked up to the gate where he ran into a young man with a checklist and a rather bored attitude. Matt figured he had been doing this for a while.

"Who are you," the man asked.

"I'm security," Matt said, "Stanley Hopkins…Just let me get my ID."

He pulled out the best fake ID that money could buy and showed it to the man who examined it carefully.

"Your beard, it's different."

Matt nodded.

"I needed a change."

The man finally gave it back to him and waved him through.

"You meet with the rest of the team in the back," he said, "You'll receive your individual assignments there."

He walked inside and didn't go to join the other security men at least not right away. Casing the grounds including the mansion were his first priorities and he wanted to get started, to find the best alternative entrances and exits.

A man leading some Dobermans walked by and Matt noted the amount of security that was present for the wedding, not surprising considering Elliot's real profession. As a hit man, he himself could be the target for revenge as well as for prosecution by law enforcement agencies so he had used a considerable amount of his earnings to shield himself from both threats.

Where was C.J., he wondered and he figured she must be getting ready for the wedding somewhere in the main house. The walls that surrounded the estate were quite impressive and so where the cameras that were mounted on the house and other spots in the surrounding area. He wondered how C.J. had ever bought into the image of her fiancé as being just a businessman but knew that love or infatuation could make someone less than suspicious when they should be.

He walked up to the side entrance of the house and looking around him, slipped into a narrow alcove next to it, while he tried the door. It appeared to be locked so he reached into his belt and pulled out a tool perfect for this kind of thing and fiddled with the lock. He managed to get it open and opening the door enough for him to slip inside before anyone noticed.

A winding staircase greeted him and two women walked down it so he ducked against the wall.

"Really Delilah I think it's much ado about nothing," one of them said, "The marriage won't last…his fiancée is a lightweight."

Delilah who looked perturbed to say the least shook her head.

"No…my brother's really caught up with her," she said, "To propose to her in the first place after barely a month."

Matt's sentiments exactly only he had been concerned about his best friend running away and jumping impulsively into a wedding with a bad character. What had she been thinking but then he thought, it might be partly his fault for the way he had treated her when she had opened up to him.

Damn, if he could have taken back his reaction both times she had tried to tell him how she felt about him. Both when they had been dodging gunfire in some abandoned building and later on, just before he had been about to get married to Elizabeth and he had believed she had just been concerned about the future of their business ventures and whether or not they would change.

In reality, it had been much deeper than that and by the time he had realized that it had been too late.

* * *

C.J. still sat on the bed, her dress still waiting to be put on for the wedding. She glanced over at it and then wondered what she had gotten herself into by making the decision to get married so quickly to a man she realized she barely knew.

And within a few hours she would be walking down the aisle with bridesmaids including his sister who despised her in front of guests she barely knew. Elliot had wanted to keep the wedding list small for this ceremony and she had agreed.

And she found herself thinking about him, and wondering if he had even come back with Roy from whatever assignment they had been working on. Somehow it didn't seem right to get married and not have them there…or even taking part in it. But she thought when Matt returned; she would explain what happened to him and hope he understood why she had done it without him.

But now after seeing those photographs, she just knew she had some questions that had to be asked and only one man could answer them and that would be the man she was about to marry but where was he?

Oh yeah, conducting some last minute business…was he? Even on his wedding day, planning to kill someone else?

How had she fallen so fast and so furious for this man, who had swept her off of her feet? She thought she would have learned better after her experience with the homicidal news anchor Robert…but now, was she about to make the same mistake?

She got up and looked into the mirror, her hair cascading around her face and wasn't sure what to do next, what if Elliot returned, what would she say to him? They had to set a few things straight before she walked down the aisle.

* * *

Matt walked up the stair case stealthily expecting to run into someone who might question him and hoping his attire would discourage it. But he had his story ready in case anyone challenged him being there in the house. He reached the top of the stairs and started walking and looking into the bedrooms. Most of them were empty but when he reached the one at the end of the hallway, he peered inside and his eyes widened as he saw her standing in front of the mirror running a brush through her hair. That lovely mahogany mane she had that either curled or waved depending on which she liked. She wore a slip which hugged her figure and showed off her lightly muscled arms.

He paused just watching her as she lifted her hair up above her neck where the necklace could be glimpsed before she released her hair again. He chose then to slip inside the room and she gasped as she looked up and saw his reflection behind her, putting her hand to her mouth for a brief second before she spun around and faced him.

"Houston…what are you doing here?"

He sighed, noticing she stood her ground and had folded her arms expectedly.

"I could ask you the same thing."'

"I'm getting married in several hours," she said, "to Elliot…you've never met him though."

He paused again, wondering if he should share with her what he knew about her fiancé.

"Our paths have crossed a time or two."

She furrowed her brow.

"Oh…care to elaborate?"

He moved closer to her, trying to keep his mind on what he had to say and off of how beautiful she appeared right then.

"Only if you tell me why you're marrying a fellow you've known only a month."

She tilted her head.

"What can I say…he swept me off my feet."

He sat down on her bed.

"But you don't even know him…do you?"

She looked at him then more carefully.

"And you do…is that what you're saying?"

He didn't respond right away.

"You think he's not the right guy for me is that it?"

"C.J…"

She shook her head.

"No Houston…You don't get to decide whether or not I'm marrying Elliot," she said, "Certainly not just a couple of hours before I'm walking down the aisle with him at the end of it waiting."

"Where is Elliot anyway?"

She didn't know exactly but she wasn't going to tell him that.

"He's…finishing up some business."

Matt imagined he had some idea what he was doing right now…possibly planning his next hit on his own wedding day.

"C.J. you don't know him as well as you think."

She stepped towards him.

"Excuse me, if there's something you know that I don't, I wish you'd just tell me."

"He's…"

Then they heard footsteps coming down the hall and they looked at each other. C.J. gestured towards her walk in closet.

"Go…quickly…We'll settle this later…"

He slipped inside the closet reluctantly, keeping the door just ajar. In walked Delilah the woman he had seen on the stairs.

"Yes…what do you want," C.J. said, "I'm trying to get dressed here."

Delilah didn't seem to care.

"I want to talk to you about your decision to marry my brother.."

C.J. sighed.

"We've been down this road already," she said, "I know you love your brother but he's entitled to make his own choices."

"You're not right for him," Delilah said, "For one thing, you're too common."

"Oh really…and you decide this how?"

Delilah shrugged.

"It's not personal really, you just don't come from the right background," she said, "You're not from one of the four families."

C.J. just shook her head.

"I'm not going to prove myself to you," she said, "After all, I'm marrying Elliot."

Another woman walked in, a statuesque blond who went by the name of Antonia.

"Delilah…there you are," she said, "I've been looking all over for you…we're having some wine out on the balcony…to prepare for this wedding."

The other woman waved her hand.

"Oh I'll be there in a moment," she said, "I'm done here."

The two women walked out and C.J. just shook her head and looked towards the closet. Matt's head emerged and he walked out of it.

"You're not really going through with this wedding…"

She looked over at him putting her hands on her hips.

"And what are you going to do to stop me," she said, "Kidnap me?"

The thought had crossed his mind but he hoped it wouldn't come to that. He wanted her to make that choice once he presented some case to her.

But time was running out and he had a feeling that showing would be much better than telling at this point.

"No…"

She started to walk away.

"Okay fine then tell me why I shouldn't marry him," she said, sitting on the bed, "I'm waiting…"

He looked at her knowing he didn't have much time to come up with the right words as she sat there waiting.


	4. Chapter 4

Another update, thanks for reading and the feedback!

* * *

Matt stared at C.J. sitting on the bed in her slip looking at him expectedly for his reasons for walking out of her upcoming wedding to Elliot.

"I'm waiting Houston…"

Oh he could see that, and she didn't look happy with him at all. After all, when he had left with Roy to handle that assignment back east, he hadn't been able to talk much about it. C.J. had been left behind as she often had in recent months to handle the workload but apparently she had been very busy in other areas of her life as well.

But getting engaged to Elliot, top assassin to some of the top capos in that part of the country, that had been unfathomable to Matt when the news had finally reached him. He knew she was an adult and fully capable of making her own decisions and she could do that…after she heard some hard facts about her fiancé.

"C.J…he's not who you think he is," he started.

She tilted her head and pushed her hair back.

"How do you even how anything about him," she said, "It's not like you were in town when we hooked up at the party."

He rubbed his jaw, thoughtfully. She didn't look at all receptive but she had to know before she made the biggest mistake in her life.

"It has to do with that assignment I took with Uncle Roy…"

She nodded.

"Oh yeah, the one you said would be too dangerous for me…"

Ouch, that look she shot him just then, had he actually said so in those words? He couldn't remember.

"C.J…"

"No Houston, that's what you said and then you and he took off and were gone for quite a while," she said, "So I had to go to that charity function for the medical foundation which you belong to and that's where I met him."

Matt thought back and considered that probably Elliot had really been dispatched back to L.A. to go after a target and somehow had sandwiched in a social life between his jobs. And had started a romance with Matt's best friend and business associate in the process, how had that happened?

"He was so charming and extremely sexy in his tux," she recalled, "and the man can dance."

He could also kill, Matt thought and she probably didn't know that he had that skill in his repertoire.

"C.J…I don't know how to tell you this but he's not the businessman who takes frequent trips out of town to go to conferences like he probably told you…he's a…."

Suddenly a louder pair of footsteps approached the room and back Matt went into the closet. He kept the door just open enough to hear a little and see less but he did see a tall man with a muscular frame and dark hair walk into the bedroom and greet C.J. by kissing her on the mouth, after wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her closer.

"Hi darling," he said, "I bet you thought I'd never make it back but you'd be wrong."

She smiled up at him.

"Oh Elliot, I knew you'd be here," she said, "though I know how important your business is to you."

He caressed her hair out of her face.

"Not as important as you are and this day where we'll be joined together as man and wife."

Matt watched from the closet, and thought to himself, not if I have anything to say about it. The man fiddled with the straps on her slip as he kissed her much longer this time, drawing them down her arms.

"Elliot we can't…we're getting married."

His lips traveled down her neck and damn that did feel good but she had to know some things first.

"All the more reason…but you're right, the guests will be arriving soon and you have to get dressed and get yourself beautiful."

She nodded as he pulled away from her.

"Elliot, is there anything you need to tell me…before we get married," she said, "I mean Delilah was just in here earlier again."

He sighed.

"You know she's been told by me to keep her distance until she can play nicely."

"I think she's just a sister worried about losing her brother to a woman she doesn't know very well," C.J. reasoned, "We did get engaged pretty quickly and the wedding's even coming more quickly."

He tensed at those words, she could tell and he looked at her, his eyebrows lifting.

"Are you telling me you don't want to go through with the wedding?"

She shook her head and put her hands on his chest.

"Oh no…we just haven't talked about some of the things that couples normally discuss."

He kissed her to try to remove any remaining doubts and his lips spoke eloquently but then she remembered the man hiding in the closet…not to mention the pictures.

But right then a couple of other men came in the bedroom when they saw Elliot there and told him they needed to discuss a few things with him before the nuptials. Elliot looked at his bride one more time and then left with them. A moment after they left, Matt walked back into the bedroom.

She turned to look at him.

"That's Elliot in case you didn't know," she said, "I would have introduced you but it looks like you didn't come through the front entrance."

"I did…just as part of the security detail."

She eyed him and his outfit critically.

"You look like a jewel thief," she said, "You're not planning on breaking into any safes are you?"

He looked around the room.

"So is this his room?"

She folded her arms.

"Oh don't even go there with me, okay?"

"C.J., the man is a professional hit-man for hire."

There he said it and when he searched her face, he expected to see shock or anger or well anything but what looked back at him. She acted like he had given her the weather forecast for the weekend.

She sat on the bed and sighed.

"I was wondering about that," she said, "I found some photos that he had hidden…I don't know why I even looked or what I was looking for…maybe I thought there was another woman."

Matt looked down at her, as she sat and contemplated what she had learned a mere few hours before her wedding.

"I don't know what to think Houston…he couldn't be a hired hit-man, wouldn't I just know that if he were doing something so evil?"

He didn't respond, not sure what to say to that.

"No scratch that, I just nearly got engaged to another sociopathic killer a year ago didn't I?"

He sat down beside her on the bed, so their shoulders brushed. At least she didn't appear to be too angry with him, and he had been preparing for that on the winding drive up the mountain to the estate.

"C.J…you fell in love with the side of himself he showed you," Matt said, "In both cases…but Elliot, I know he's a hired killer. Roy and I saw him several times on that surveillance job we took on the East Coast."

Her mouth opened.

"You mean…Elliot works for some mobsters?"

Matt nodded.

"A cabal of them actually," he said, "A coalition of the top five remaining families on the seaboard."

She put her hand over her face.

"Oh my god…and here I thought I was getting better at picking fiancés."

Matt heard a trace of pain in her voice buried amidst the anger and indignation and realized she had really cared about the guy, maybe loved him too. But if she thought he was going to stand by and watch her marry a man like Elliot, she had another thing coming. Because this thug in Armani made Robert Tyler look like a choir boy and at any rate, there were three pending grand jury inquiries into the five families thanks to the work done by Matt and his uncle and others and so it would be a matter of time before Elliot and C.J.'s marriage would be reduced to jailhouse visits anyway.

"What am I going to do Houston…I'm getting married today to this wonderful man or so I thought…what's the protocol for skipping out on your own wedding?"

She looked at him as if he would know and he had no clue, because yes, his engagements and even one wedding had been aborted but not by him making a clean getaway.

"I don't know the answer to that but perhaps we could sneak out the back exit of this mansion as I'm sure there is one before anyone notices…my car's just down the road."

She folded her arms looking at him.

"Oh you came prepared didn't you?"

He reached over and moved a tendril of hair hanging in her face.

"I came here hoping you'd come back with me…"

Then she stood up and just stared at him and some spark had been set off inside of her.

"Oh…nice…so you thought I'd trade him in for another model…like you…Forget it."

Matt felt taken aback, what in the hell was she talking about here?

"C.J…"

She rubbed her forehead.

"Okay Matt…we'll talk about this later…"

"C.J. we've got to get you out of here," Matt said, "but not dressed like that. I think you better change."

She rolled her eyes at him.

"Okay…I'll see what's in the closet here…it's as big as my living room back home so I ought to find something I can wear out of here."

She went into the closet and found some jeans that appeared to fit and a black sweater and some boots. She didn't know who the clothes belonged to and she didn't ask, she dressed quickly inside the closet.

After she finished dressing, she walked out and Matt glanced over at her and did a double take. What she could do to even a casual outfit, well there weren't enough words but first things first and that was getting out of the mansion and off the estate so they could get back to his car.

She looked indecisive.

"I really should talk to him…explain that I just need some time to think it over."

He shook his head.

"And what if he doesn't like your answer or decides not to let you go," Matt said, "You've got to get out of here."

"Okay…then let's go then before my bridesmaids start looking for me."

* * *

He looked out the bedroom door and when he saw it was clear, he walked out into the hallway and she followed him quite closely. They heard some people talking and headed in the opposite direction towards a back staircase. Matt went first and she followed down the rather dark flight of stairs and realized they reached the area behind the kitchen. Caterers went to and fro with plates of food and C.J. gazed a bit longingly at some of the platters as they went by.

"Damn, there goes a chance to sample some of the best fettuccini ever made."

Matt looked around and saw an exit just in front of them and grabbing her hand he headed towards it.

"Excuse me, where are you going," a voice rang out behind them.

Matt stiffened and then turned around while C.J. put on a smile when they bumped into Delilah who frowned at them.

"Who's this man," she said and then her eyes lit up, "Hah I knew you had a lover behind the scenes. How dare you bring him into my brother's house…like some common…"

"Shut up," C.J. said, "This is a close friend of mine and he's merely extending his best wishes."

Delilah folded her arms, her eyes aiming daggers at C.J.

"Does my brother know about this 'friend' of yours?"

C.J. paused and looked over at Matt.

"Yes…I believe their paths have crossed," she said, "in the business world."

Delilah looked at her strangely then and C.J. wondered then if she had said too much.

"You're nothing but a common harlot," Delilah said, "You seduced my dear brother in a moment of his weakness and you're trying to insinuate yourself in the family. Well he might be not yet be wise to you but I am."

C.J. shrugged.

"Look whatever Delilah, would you excuse us so he can congratulate me in a less hostile environment?"

Delilah refused to move.

"I will not…"

C.J. sighed and looked directly at her.

"If you don't, I will tell my fiancé that you spent way too much time with that man who is his main business rival…in the swimming pool the other night."

Now Elliot's sister's face flushed an alarming shade of pink and C.J. knew she had hit her mark.

"He won't believe you," Delilah hissed.

"He won't have to," C.J. said, "It will be enough if he just thinks about it."

Delilah sputtered some more but the wind had gone out of her sails and she tottered off. Matt turned to C.J.

"Boy you sure can play some hardball."

She shrugged a bit.

"And you've just started to notice?"

They walked to the door and opened it to find themselves out on the courtyard, surrounded by the four wings of the mansion that had as its centerpiece, a nice fountain surrounded by rose bushes.

"The gates are this way," C.J. said, walking to where sure enough there were double iron rod gates that were ajar.

"This way…"

Matt followed her as they crept through the labyrinth of hedges which were quite high and which led all the way to the gate.

Well, almost all the way.

Ahead they saw another man, his arms around an attractive young woman with auburn hair up in a tidy bun.

"Oh no, that's one of my bridesmaids…I think."

Matt frowned.

"You don't know your own bridesmaids?"

C.J. ran her hand through her hair.

"I didn't pick them Houston," she said, "Do you really think I wanted that woman back there to be my maid of honor?

"I suppose not…why would ever let anyone do that for you…"

"Later Houston…if you want to get out of here without being seen…we'd better move quickly and get past them."

They walked nonchalantly as much so as possible considering they were making a getaway of sorts.

But before they got there, the man looked up and his piercing gaze caught the two of them. The woman looked miffed and stood to the side, folding her arms.

"Take care of them Hans…"

Oh yeah, Hans who was one of the ushers at the wedding worked closely with Elliot which meant…was he out killing people for money too?

"C.J. what are you doing out here…and who's this man?"

She put on a smile and looked over at Matt.

"He's security…I know it's kind of annoying to have a shadow following me around but Elliot put his foot down on this one."

Hans frowned, checking Matt out but the woman, Andrea looked skeptical.

"Wait a minute Hans," she said, "He's way too fine looking for Elliot to trust with his woman."

C.J. wanted to roll her eyes, _his woman_?

But Hans didn't look happy at all.

"Andrea, what do you mean he's fine looking," he said, "You're attracted to this man here?"

She stammered, her eyes blinking seductively.

"Oh no darling…he could never come close to lighting my fire like you do…"

"That's better," Hans said, "as for Elliot, with all the pressure he's under, she might need an armed guard to protect her."

C.J. felt curiosity get the better of her.

"What do you mean 'pressure' Hans," she said, "Is Elliot not telling me everything that's going on?"

Hans looked sheepish.

"I said too much," he said, "Nothing for you to worry yourself about…so go back to getting ready for your wedding."

"I just have to say goodbye to him…I'll see you later Hans…"

Matt and C.J. started to leave when suddenly someone else called out.

"Wait a minute…"


	5. Chapter 5

Another update is up, thanks for reading and the feedback!

* * *

Matt and C.J. turned around just as they had come close to exiting the hedge maze close to the front entrance of the estate.

"Where are you going," the man asked.

C.J. smiled.

"I needed to get some fresh hair Franco," she said, "He's my appointed bodyguard."

Matt looked over at the man with the stocky build who looked like he used to be a prized fighter who had gone one round too many.

She turned to look over at Matt.

"That's Franco, he's Elliot's uncle," she said, "He flew in for the wedding."

Yeah, Matt thought after he had stopped in New York City to take out a union leader last month, because he hadn't seen him in person but he had seen his mug shot. Why he hadn't been rounded up and taken into custody just spoke to the untouchable status of the world that men like him and Elliot lived and did business in.

"Nice to meet you," Matt said, "We'll be back in about 10 minutes."

Franco folded his arms and then Matt could see the old guy was packing.

"Does Elliot know you left the house?"

C.J. sighed.

"I don't need his permission to do anything," she said, "The room got stuffy and I wanted to go take a short walk…but you know how Elliot is about going out alone."

Franco nodded but still looked skeptical.

"Maybe I should find him."

C.J. shrugged.

"Maybe you should do that," she said, "but he's busy now wrapping up business before our wedding and honeymoon and he won't want to be disturbed."

Franco thought about that and finally nodded back.

"Okay…but don't be gone too long or the wedding won't start on time."

He walked away and Matt and C.J. headed towards the gate. It looked like it had been left unattended for a while and Matt decided to take full advantage of that. They walked through and then headed up the road towards where he parked his Porsche.

"Halt…where you going?"

They looked behind them and saw a group of men dressed in tuxes walking behind them. Matt looked at C.J.

"I think this is where we pick up the pace," he said.

She nodded and they both took off at a run, towards the bend where just beyond it would be their getaway vehicle. Hell, it wasn't the first time they had been in this position. Okay, maybe they hadn't been fleeing a wedding but other equally difficult situations and it all amounted to the same thing.

"Hey come back here," the men said.

Matt looked over at them and realized he had a decision to make. He stopped, grabbed C.J. and then pulled her against him.

"Houston what are you doing?"

Matt whispered.

"Play along…"

He pulled out his gun and pressed it against her side then he turned around to face the men.

"One step closer and I'll blow her head off," Matt yelled, pressing the gun harder against her side.

The men backed up a few steps.

"That's better," Matt said, stepping backward with C.J. towards the Porsche, "I'm taking off with her and when I'm ready to collect a ransom, I'll give your boss a call."

"You wouldn't dare," one of them said, "He'll smoke your ass."

Matt didn't look impressed.

"He'll have to find me first," he said, "and he tries to pull anything, the woman's dead."

The men stood there frozen as if they couldn't believe the sight in front of them. As if they couldn't believe that anyone would challenge the Big Five Families including one of their best hired hit men, Elliot.

"I'll keep in touch," Matt said, as he and C.J. headed towards the Porsche.

Once the men left, they headed towards the car quickly and got inside, before turning around to head back down the mountain past the estate's front gate.

"You might want to duck in case they start shooting," Matt said.

She looked over at him.

"What about you?"

"I got to keep driving…"

Matt revved up the car and they drove faster past the estate and weren't too surprised to see a car jet out of the gate following them down the mountain road. Then quickly after that, gun shots ringing out including one that dinged of the fender.

"Damn they're shooting at us," C.J. said, trying to drop out of range.

She looked over at Matt who slouched lower but focused on getting them down into Highway 1 in one piece. But the shots continued and one whizzed by Matt's head.

"I'm going to have to speed up," he said, "Hold on!"

The car sped up even faster, the frame straining under the demands from the acceleration but they pulled slowly away from the pursuing car. Matt made the most of the opportunity by catching the turn onto the coastline highway and then losing himself in traffic. He wove in and out of the lanes as drivers honked at him in indignation but the distance between them and the car behind them lengthened further. They pulled abruptly off into a side street and the car sped past unaware.

"That was close," C.J. said as Matt stopped the car before heading further down the side street to another which would lead them back to the highway some distance further.

"We'd better find some place to lie low," he said, "Those men will be back."

She just looked at him.

"What was that back there," she said, "Why did you do that?"

Matt sighed.

"So that he doesn't suspect that you were leaving freely," Matt said, "So he'll focus his anger on me."

She slapped his arm lightly.

"Houston…why did you think I needed you to protect me?"

Matt looked directly at her.

"Because he's a dangerous man C.J. and I don't want you to get hurt."

She shook her head at him.

"I'm the one who got myself in this situation," she said, "It's my responsibility…"

Matt drove until they reached a small diner and parked in the back.

"Where are we," she asked.

"I've got some friends here," he explained, "They might be able to help us."

She studied the man next to her who she had known most of her life but today she had seen a different side of him. And then she noticed something else.

"Houston…you're bleeding…"

He looked over at his shirt sleeve which had been dampened by blood.

"It's just a graze…"

They pulled into the parking lot and she moved over when he stopped the car and rolled up his sleeve. The wound seeped blood but didn't look bad. It needed to be cleaned up.

"Do you have a first aid kit inside here?"

Matt nodded.

"In the glove compartment…"

She pulled it out and opened the kit, looking down at the contents. She perused them and then grabbed some gauze and some tape and some antiseptic. She poured some of the medicine on the gauze and gingerly tried to clean it up.

"Ouch C.J…what do you got there battery acid?"

"Yeah, now will you sit still a minute," she said, patting the blood off of what looked like an abrasion.

"I will if you put that medicine away," he said, "It's just a scratch."

"I know, but I don't want it to get infected."

She took some gauze and taped it to his arm over the wound and then gently rolled his sleeve down for him.

"That's much better isn't it?"

He smiled at her and stroked her face.

"Yeah…much better…now let's get inside okay?"

The two of them went inside the diner to plan their next move now that they had a pack of heavy hitters out there looking for them.

* * *

Matt and C.J. ate the hamburger platters that the cook prepared for them, with wedge cut fries and milk shakes. C.J. found herself famished and the food quite tasty as did Matt and their hosts were gracious being friends of Matt back from his football days back at Rice University.

"What are we going to do Houston," C.J. said, "We can't head back to L.A. If Elliot really believes you kidnapped me, he'll send his men there first."

"I know…I think we should head to Monterey," he said, "A friend of mine has a place there and there's no way to connect him to us. We just have to make sure we don't get followed."

She nodded.

"But what you did, Elliot's not going to let it go."

"I don't want him to," Matt said, "But it's not going to get him anywhere. Besides, the feds have the goods on the Big Five and they'll be going down soon and that might include Elliot."

She frowned at him.

"Does this have anything to do with you and your uncle?"

He nodded.

"The surveillance we did was successful."

She rubbed the bridge of her noise.

"Houston, was I ever going to know about this," she said, "I was just about to walk down the aisle with this guy."

"Why do you think I showed up," Matt said, "I got up there as soon as I returned to L.A. and found out what happened when I was gone."

She finished off her french-fries.

"I guess I had been pretty busy," she said, "It happened so fast, I didn't even know what it was about him, I guess the excitement and god, he was so sexy…I guess you don't want to hear that part."

Matt sipped his drink.

"But to marry him…that doesn't sound like you."

Irritation filled her at his certainty that he knew everything about her.

"Maybe you don't know everything about me."

"I know enough to know that you don't usually run off and get married to men you barely know."

C.J. sipped her shake.

"No, not usually…"

"Why this time..?"

C.J. remained quiet for a moment.

"He swept me off my feet, he said a lot of things and I guess I believed him," she said, "He seemed so much different than Robert and they're exactly the same in one fundamental way."

Matt could understand that, after all he had fallen hard a time or two for some woman who turned out to be completely different than he thought, that had even happened with some of his male friends who he had trusted who had turned out to be killers.

"We'd better head to my friend's place," Matt said, "before it gets dark."

"Do you think they're still out there driving around?"

They got up after paying their tab and headed to the car out in the lot.

"They're probably back at the estate coming up with a plan to look for us," Matt said.

"Okay…then I guess we'd better get going," she said, as they both got in the Porsche and headed to the house.

* * *

Matt parked his car in back of the house which had the ocean a hundred yards from its back door. The house itself was nicely furnished inside with a couple of bedrooms and a spacious kitchen, not to mention a back deck.

C.J. collapsed on the couch while Matt looked around the house.

"This place is nice," she said, "Where are your friends?"

"They're out of the country," he said, "They won't be back for a few months. I called them and asked them if I could stay for a little while."

Her brow arched.

"Before or after that stunt you pulled at the estate?"

"Before…I thought you might want a place to think for a while."

She glanced at him, surprised.

"Why would I need that…I don't need to sit around figuring out what I did wrong," she said, "I just need to move on."

"You can do that with Elliot?"

C.J. looked at him and nodded.

"I can't stay with him if he's a hired killer and I don't know how to confront him with that kind of information."

Matt watched as she got up and walked into the kitchen to look in the refrigerator.

"They left some beers," she said, "Want one?"

Matt nodded and she brought back two, tossing him one.

"They've got some clothes if you need any," he said, "in one of the bedrooms."

She sat on the couch opposite from the chair he occupied.

"How long are we saying here?"

Matt leaned back in his chair with his beer.

"How long do you want to stay," he said, "We can't go back to L.A. until the indictments are issued."

She sighed.

"Okay well I guess that will work…as long as they don't find us."

Matt reached for his cell phone.

"I'm going to have to call Uncle Roy and Will and tell them both to lie low in case they go after them."

C.J. hoped that it wouldn't come to that but she knew the two men could take care of themselves especially with advance notice. Roy had been spending most of his free time with his son since he discovered that he had been alive all that time.

"Okay well just be careful Roy, it might not be a bad time for you and Roy to take that trip to Hawaii that you'd been planning."

"You need any help," Roy asked.

"We're fine for now," Matt said, "We'll feel better if we know that they can't get to the two of you."

"As long as you keep each other safe," Roy said, "and keep us posted."

Matt promised that and hung up to see C.J. looking at him.

"At least that's taken care of," she said, "Now we can figure out what to do here."

And so they sat down together to do just that.


	6. Chapter 6

Another installment up, thanks for reading and the feedback!

* * *

C.J. sat on the beach and read a novel. She rarely had any spare time for pleasure reading so sitting down with a mystery novel in such a lovely setting was something she really enjoyed. Matt had been inside the house using the computer to find out more information on Elliot's so-called business that he used as a front for his real profession. They had been there a couple of days enjoying themselves, mostly lying low which meant sticking around the house or on the beach in case anybody came looking for them.

Matt had called Hoyt and the lieutenant had listened to what happened and sent some undercover officers to put both the penthouse office suite and Matt's beach house under surveillance after chastising Matt for his actions. He had called Matt back with progress reports but so far, not much to report.

C.J. had hit the beach, mostly lying in the sand in a bikini she had bought at a store along with some other clothes or swimming in the ocean which had been refreshing after sitting in the sun. Sometimes Matt would come down and join her and he looked as great as he always did, keeping himself in fighting shape marred only where the bullet had grazed his skin during their getaway.

She didn't think much about her fiancé who no doubt was out there looking for her rather than awaiting the ransom note. They kept careful watch where they stayed but deemed it unlikely that anyone would find them. Matt had worked hard to leave a false trail of them heading to Seattle and had friends helping him do that up there.

In the meantime, they relaxed a little, they ate great food at some restaurants when they weren't bringing food back to cook at the house and they spent a lot of time talking, mostly catching up on what had been going on in their lives because they hadn't really seen each other all that much, outside his aborted wedding and now hers.

"Why did we spend so much time apart," she asked, "that we lost track of what the other was doing?"

Matt paused putting down his beer.

"I guess when things got so busy…and with my family moving to L.A., first Roy and then Will, I got caught up in having family close by especially after my father died."

"I missed you, you know," she said, "I missed working with you like a partner…though I understand you wanting to spend time with Roy to catch up on what you both missed and Will too."

"I never meant to shut you out and I think that's what I did."

She shook her head.

"No…our lives just went in different directions," she said, "Roy's got skills I can never have, all that wealth of experience working for that covert organization and he probably helped you more than I could."

He looked at her as she said that to him and she really believed it when that hadn't been the case at all.

"C.J…if that's what I led you to think then I was wrong to do that," he said, "That was never my intention."

She sighed.

"It was okay…I got a lot of work done and I had more free time to develop some outside interests."

"And to meet Elliot…"

"Houston that happened when you were on this latest assignment with Roy," she said, "He just seemed like this great guy, so uncomplicated and easy to be myself around…I guess I was wrong in a couple of areas there."

He heard the rueful tone in her voice and recognized it having been there himself and C.J. had never given him a hard time about his own mistakes so he wouldn't do that to her.

"It just had been a while since you…Robert and he's in prison now and I guess Elliot will be there someday too," she said, with a sigh, "Sounds like something out of some bad reality show."

Matt sighed.

"They had the problem not you," he said, "People like that can hide their true natures so easily and very convincingly. Part of being a sociopathic personality, I dated a couple of those myself."

She nodded remembering that all too well and then there had been Erin, the nurse who had tended to one of his many job-related injuries and then gone after her with a knife because Matt had walked away from their one night stand.

"Maybe next time I'll go to a matchmaker."

Matt chuckled at that and she rewarded him with a smile in return. She really had a beautiful one but then she had always been a lovely lady. She sat opposite him on the beach towel right now, wearing a really nice red bikini with a sheer wrap over it, sipping her beer.

"I don't think you need to go that far."

She sighed at him, shaking her head.

"I've really got to be a lot more careful about whom I enter into relationships with," she said, "Whether it's long-term commitment or a more passing thing."

She had several short interludes involving more casual relationships with men she had encountered since Robert. Until she realized that these types of romances just didn't really work for her. Not like they did for men like Matt who had many of them during his life. Except for the occasional disasters like Erin, he walked away from his brief affairs in pretty good shape. She envied that about him and thought maybe he could pass along some tips.

But he looked at her pointedly instead before she even thought to ask.

"C.J. it's not your fault that men like Robert and Elliot make the decisions that they make and you shouldn't be too hard on yourself that you didn't see through them earlier. After all, you didn't marry either one."

She sighed, looking out at the ocean.

"But I loved Robert…I'm not sure about Elliot, I think it was more the excitement of him and if you hadn't come…"

"I'm sure you would have figured it out," Matt said, "You're a smart lady."

She ran her fingers through the warm sand.

"But they took a shot at you in the process," she said, "It could have been a lot worse."

Matt sipped his own beer.

"It worked out okay…I barely even got dinged and we're together…it's been a while."

She nodded.

"Yes it has…I don't ever want it to be this long again."

He moved closer to her and stroked a tendril of hair out of her face which he loved to do, she noticed.

"Me neither."

"Houston…"

His gaze focused on her.

"What…"

She paused picking her words carefully.

"How do you do it?"

"Do what," he asked back.

"Have these relationships with women and then walk away?"

Matt shifted his position on the towel.

"It's not quite like that…the relationships run their course, some more quickly than others."

"I know that…but isn't it ever difficult even with the shorter ones?"

Matt considered her question and he saw the expression on her face that it had been weighing on her mind for some time.

"Well sometimes both parties are willing to just enjoy the moment, whether it's meeting someone on a business trip, or an airport layover or at a nightclub."

C.J. nodded following along and she had her own experiences of meeting someone, realizing that there was great chemistry there and keeping it simple…and short. But she often had found herself wanting more from her relationships with men than that, she had been more determined to find someone to explore a long-term relationship with rather than a series of brief interludes. But wasn't that what she thought she had found with Elliot?

The suave businessman who used a cover to hide the fact that he murdered people for a living, and for the money. Now that she had found out about that side of him, every memory of the time she had spent with him had become tainted including what she had considered to be a wonderful weekend spent in San Francisco at a bed and breakfast inn. Who had he been hired to kill up in that nice city, she wondered now, because she had woken up one morning and found the space beside her in bed empty and he hadn't shown up until several hours later to go with her to check out the Fisherman's Wharf.

"That's true, I just wish I was as good at doing that as you have been," she said.

He narrowed his eyes.

"Is that what you really want?"

She shrugged.

"I guess I wanted more than that," she admitted, "but once again I fell short. Maybe it's time for a change and I should try taking things less seriously with men."

"You think that's going to make you happy?"

She smiled at him, spreading herself out on her towel to face him.

"I'm thinking more along the lines of whether it will be more fun."

He caught the sparkle in her eye and suppressed his smile,

"Okay…well we're a little bit busy now so socializing with others might have to take a back seat for now."

She nodded.

"True…but have you ever wondered…what it would be like if we socialized with each other?"

His breath caught in his throat especially when he read her face after she dropped that bombshell on him.

"Excuse me?"

She smiled, pulling her hair back off of her face.

"I'm just saying that neither of us are in relationships and we're spending a lot of time together in a beautiful place on the coast so maybe we should just enjoy ourselves."

His skin felt warm when she put it that way. She had meant it after all; she really did want to have a fling with him. But then he remembered what she had just left, hard to forget with all the gunfire.

"C.J. are you saying what I think you're saying?"

She sighed.

"Well…yeah…Houston we've been friends for years, this should come naturally to both of us."

And it did, at least on one level with him especially when she lay on her towel in that bikini but this just didn't sound like her at all.

"C.J. you just left your fiancé," Matt said, "Isn't this a bit soon after your wedding day?"

She considered that and then she looked over at him.

"This isn't a rebound thing if that's what you're asking," she said, "Unless I was rebounding with him."

Now that startled Matt almost right off of his own towel, was she saying that she had decided to marry Elliot because of her feelings for someone else?

"Houston…I never loved Elliot, I only hooked up with him because I missed you so much."

He looked back at her stunned; did he just hear her right? She sat up and looked at him in a way that melted him inside and then she moved her face close to his own and placing her hands on his shoulder, she kissed him on the mouth.

Rather than pulling away, he found himself responding, running his hands through her hair which flowed loosely tossed about by the ocean breeze.

After they broke their kiss, she looked straight at him and reached behind her to undo her bikini straps in the back of her neck. He watched her transfixed as she untied them and then dropped them.

"Houston…"

His eyes blinked as the image faded in front of him.

"Houston…."

He opened his eyes and looked up to see C.J. looking down at him bemused.

"What happened," he said, trying to sit up.

She smiled.

"You fell asleep…just for a little while…I didn't want to disturb you."

He looked around and saw that the rest of the beach was empty and then he turned to look at C.J. his skin flushed.

"Houston…it looks like you got some sun."

Not exactly, he had just remembered what he had been dreaming about and that he had woken up way too soon. She just shook her head at his befuddled expression and returned to her novel while he just lay down again wondering what was going on with him.


	7. Chapter 7

Another installment is up, thanks for reading and the feedback!

* * *

Matt and C.J. left the beach house to head into the small village to get some more groceries after they ate some lunch at a small diner. But when they headed inside the establishment, they saw the local newspaper as well as a publication circulated back in L.A.

And on the front page, they saw their photographs prominently placed. C.J. figured that the photo they printed had been taken at a recent charity gala.

"Look at the headlines," she said, "They read that you kidnapped me at gunpoint from my wedding to a prominent businessman and you're still at large."

Matt looked at the paper incredulous then bought a copy to read inside the restaurant.

"Wait a minute, should we even go in there," C.J. asked, "Now that we're front page news?"

Matt thought about it.

"I think we'll be okay," he said, "It should be obvious when someone sees us together that I didn't kidnap you."

She smiled at him.

"True…I'm hungry anyway…"

They walked inside and sat in a corner booth, picking up menus and looking over the delicious entrees. The waitress came over to take their order and clearly didn't know about their starring role in the daily news. They kept it simple, ordering the special burger combo with curly fries so that they wouldn't stand out as being unusual. Matt looked over at C.J. who sat there sipping her cola in her knit sweater top over a pair of denim shorts that accentuated her long, supple legs. Her skin had tanned from the past days spent on the beach and she looked relaxed, considering the circumstances.

But what would she think if she knew about these dreams that he had been having about her, about them? Dreams that he had no business having about the woman that had been his best friend since childhood, because after all, they had never taken their friendship further, or anywhere past innocent flirtation. His thoughts lately hadn't been any more innocent than his dreams.

"Houston, are you feeling okay?"

He glanced up at her and she gave him a funny look. She had worn her hair in curls today, off of her face. He knew her hair to be soft to the touch and in his dreams…he sighed picking up his drink and taking a large sip.

"I'm just fine C.J.," he said, "Just doing some thinking."

She nodded.

"Oh yeah about us being on the front page of the newspaper," C.J. said, "Do you think the police are out looking for us too?"

Matt rubbed his jaw.

"Well Hoyt said the LAPD was staking out the office building and my home but nothing's turned up yet."

C.J. stroked the rim of her glass.

"That's not how Elliot works," she said, "I think he's sneakier than that. Apparently more than I ever guessed."

Matt thought about the man that he had seen a couple times in passing while working on that surveillance operation, never suspecting that C.J. had gotten involved enough with him to be engaged. The thought of which still sent chills through him, but at least she had gotten away from him, albeit in dramatic fashion thanks to him.

Their food came and they dove into it hungrily enough to eat in companionable silence for a moment. C.J. thought that it must be those sea breezes that wafted onshore that must be responsible for her feeling both energetic and hungrier than she had been in the past few months. She thought she'd be stressed out after having literally run away from her fiancé but she felt just the opposite. That spoke volumes about her relationship with Elliot and not in a positive sense.

She looked over at Matt and thought he looked his usually handsome self in his top with the first button undone and shorts. The man had played football until he finished college and it definitely showed. His sleeves were rolled up halfway up his arms and she loved how strong they looked. He had to keep himself in top physical condition to do his job and he never slacked up. Something his girlfriends hadn't appreciated when he rose up early from his bed in the mornings and either went on a run on the beach or an ocean swim.

Even during the winter storms when the ocean broke up higher on the beach, eating away at the shore. He supplemented his training during those months with filling up and piling sandbags around the sea wall in front of his home and those of his neighbors to keep the water out. She had helped him numerous times and then they had returned inside his house soaked to enjoy some warm food and even hotter coffee. A couple times they had piled on the couch under a comforter or two and had watched movies for hours while the rain struck the roof of his house.

During those times spent together, she had felt so comfortable against the warmth of his body. There had been times when neither had been seeing anyone else when she had been tempted…but she just had no idea how he would react if she made a pass at him.

But in the past few days they had spent together, she had continuously been reminded just how attractive she found him. He of course probably saw her the same way he always did as merely a friend, a very close one of course, but someone to keep at arm's length.

Just as well he didn't know about what she had been dreaming about lately when she had been sleeping in the bedroom down the hallway from the one he used. She had woken up in a sweat the other night after she and he…well they had been reenacting a certain surfside scene from a famous movie and it had felt so real she felt the chill of the ocean water as it cascaded over them and the sand it carried with it, but mostly the sensation of his body and his arms wrapped around hers. All they needed was a stirring soundtrack in the background.

She had to get up and go to the kitchen to get a glass of water to cool down.

Why did she have these dreams when she had just been engaged to the man she almost walked down the aisle with just days ago? Shouldn't she be dreaming about her fiancé, because even if he was a hit man, she had her own steamy experiences with him for her subconscious to draw on while the rest of her slept. There really was no reason to start having these types of dreams about Matt especially since if she even reached guest starring status in his own, they were probably every bit as platonic as their real life relationship.

"Houston…"

He looked up at her from his fries.

"What is it?"

She hesitated before saying anything wondering how she would even broach the subject.

"How've you been sleeping?"

He shot her an inquisitive look.

"Fine…must be the sound of the ocean at night but I've never slept better."

She sighed, at his answer because she had been tossing and turning unable to get back to sleep after some of these very vivid and emotionally charged dreams.

"That's good…I've been sleeping…fine too…"

He gazed at her when she picked up her hamburger to finish eating it, knowing she clearly had something on her mind.

"What's going on?"

She looked at him sideways.

"Oh nothing…just this whole kidnapping thing…nothing could be further from the truth."

Matt looked a bit puzzled at that.

"I don't know why the media's treating it that way," he said, "Unless Elliot's got his reasons."

She sighed.

"Houston, to him it looked like a kidnapping…you had your gun on me and said to expect a ransom."

"I didn't want him to know you were involved."

She picked up a french-fry and ate it thoughtfully.

"Maybe that wasn't a good idea because then he looks clean and you look like the criminal to go after."

"The feds are going to issue indictments soon," Matt said, "I think that Elliot will have plenty to think and worry about then besides us."

She grew silent for a moment.

"You know I don't really miss him like I should," she said, "What does that say about me and my commitments?"

"Maybe on some level, you wanted out."

She turned to look at him sharply.

"What makes you say such a thing," she said, "I thought I loved him but I guess I only thought that I did."

Matt could relate to that because he had felt similar about his engagement to Elizabeth. He had been so sure he'd been in love with the woman, that she would be the one he would marry and spend the rest of his life with…yet when they broke up, he felt less heartbroken than he had expected. He got back into his routine of balancing multiple women pretty quickly enough and when he read in some society news section in the newspaper that she got engaged to a wealthy heir to a publishing fortune, he had mostly been happy for her.

Maybe Elizabeth had the same realizations about the two of them and their relationship as he had discovered. And at any rate, his mind had fallen upon dreaming about the woman sitting next to him showing him parts of herself that he hadn't seen before including her body. Last night for example, he had awoken from stirring dream where they had been sitting in a car doing surveillance probably as the dream didn't provide much context. When she had turned and looked at him, a split-second later they were wrapped up in each other and he wasn't quite sure where their clothes had gone but the details of his dream had been so vivid.

He felt frustrated and more than a bit taken aback when he had woken up because no doubt, she had been sleeping peacefully in the other bedroom having more normal dreams where if he factored in at all, he no doubt had his clothes on. She had told him in the past more than once that she had loved him and he hadn't responded back even though her admission had thrown him through a loop.

The waitress returned with their ticket and smiled at them.

"Nice weather we're having today," she said, "Are you like tourists because I haven't seen you around here before…"

Matt and C.J. looked at each other.

"No…"

"Yes…"

C.J rolled her eyes.

"He thinks he's been here all of his life, we're having such a great time," she said.

The waitress looked at them a bit uncertainly. C.J. wondered if she would be on the phone calling the police or the media to tell them that the bride-napper was currently sitting in the local diner with his victim.

"Yeah…it just feels so much like home," Matt said, "We're thinking of buying one of those bungalows on the coast."

The waitress nodded.

"Oh yes, I have one myself," she said, "They're very nice, great view of the ocean too."

Matt put his arm around C.J. and she tried not to react.

"We…my sweetheart and I…we're kind of on a second honeymoon."

The waitress furrowed her brow.

"I didn't peg you for being married because you don't have rings."

C.J. just shot a look at Matt and shrugged.

"That's because he's too cheap to buy me one," she said, "I'm working on him and he's on a timeline."

Matt looked sheepish.

"She's got me there," he said, "It's just that I couldn't decide which one I wanted to buy."

"He's indecisive like that," C.J. chimed in.

The waitress nodded.

"I see…I think…well come on back now," she said, "We've got some prime lobster coming in from Maine next week."

Matt and C.J. got up and headed out of the restaurant.

"We'd better get going because I doubt she bought our story," C.J. said.

* * *

They reached the car so they could head to the market which was pretty modest in size but the shelves were well stocked and it didn't take long for the two of them to pack a cart. Matt selected some nice stakes and C.J. went to check out the produce section to get some vegetables. Overheard, there was a television set where a blond woman sat behind a desk delivering the news. C.J. looked up closer and saw a familiar sight.

"Oh my god…"

They flashed that fairly old photo of her again and one of Matt from what looked like back when he won the mechanical bull riding competition at a western bar in L.A. Their pictures were side by side in the background while the woman breathlessly reported on how C.J. had been kidnapped by a former lover.

"A what…."

She just couldn't believe it. The media didn't know enough of the truth so they filled in the considerable blanks with reports of how she and Matt had this torrid love affair that had ruptured the engagement that she had with Elliot who was being depicted as a successful businessman who shined in the area of ethics.

Some brunette woman looked straight into the camera after being identified as a "close friend" of C.J. and regaled the news anchor with tales of C.J.'s exploits with men back in college.

"She wasn't I would say…loose or anything liked that…but the girl loved a good time…"

C.J. frowned, who was this woman again? She looked vaguely familiar but for being one of her "good friends", C.J. just couldn't place her. Then she saw Elliot's face, his eyes serious and his tone hushed.

"It was the most terrifying experience of my life…watching my fiancée being abducted by that man who waved a gun at her and threatened to kill everyone…"

She just sighed as she watched, because that in no way had been what had actually happened. After all, a hit man who blew away people for a living was talking about how terrified he had been? He certainly was playing the victimized groom to the hilt.

"I am begging…no I am beseeching the kidnapper not to hurt her to get at me," Elliot said, "Please let her go unharmed…just tell me what you want in return."

C.J. wondered what Matt would think if he were watching but no doubt he was in the meat section checking out loins and prime cuts blissfully unaware that he had been painted as a hardened kidnapper.

She turned away from the television hoping no one else had seen it and headed to find Matt so they could make an escape before anyone could identify them.


	8. Chapter 8

Another update is up, thanks for reading and the feedback!

"I can't believe that Elliot's acting like the bereaved husband," C.J. said, "We didn't even get married."

"It's the perfect cover," Matt said, "Turn me into the wanted criminal will get focus away from the impending indictments against him and the company he keeps."

They sat inside the beach house after returning safely from their foray into town. If anyone noticed that they resembled a kidnapper and his victim, no one commented on it or even gave them strange looks. They relaxed on the sofa with some Scotch to relax their nerves, of course. C.J. needed a couple of glasses before she felt completely assured that no one was going to break the doors down to come after Matt for kidnapping or her for not going through with her wedding after the arrangements had been made and the invitations had been mailed out.

"I'd be on my honeymoon right now with a hired killer," C.J. said, "if it hadn't been for you."

"You've saved me a time or two," Matt said, "Consider it just returning the favor."

She smiled at him.

"Yeah we are quite a pair," she said, "though I could never have a better friend."

"Me neither…Who else could help me get through some of the bad situations I had in my life?"

She looked at him seriously.

"I really thought I was in a good relationship," she said, "I don't know why I didn't see it…you'd think I'd learn after Robert."

Matt sighed.

"C.J…the guy was good…if it hadn't been through chance that I and Uncle Roy saw him during that assignment, I wouldn't have guessed. "

"But I didn't even invite you to the wedding," she said, "I could have waited until you both returned."

"Why didn't you?"

She leaned back with a sigh.

"I don't know…I guess I was a little upset that once again you and your uncle took off on an adventure without me…silly I know."

The tone of her voice told him it was anything but to her.

"No…I'm sorry about what's been going on since he moved to L.A.," Matt said, "I know you've been more in the background, back in the office."

"I know that he's better at investigating than I could ever be, so he should be out there in the field."

"C.J…he's got skills from his career but he's not better," Matt said, "If I ever implied that…"

She raised her hand.

"No Houston…it just makes sense…which is why when you were gone, I just focused on other areas of my life."

"Like finding a fiancé," he asked.

She shook her head.

"Not exactly…I just met him and he seemed so exciting and yeah…sexy and we hit it off…very well in several ways but as it turned out, I didn't know much about him after all."

"You knew that you cared for him."

She sighed.

"But he's a killer and that just doesn't work for me," she said, "It's what you might call a deal breaker."

Matt nodded, understanding.

"After all good looks and a great sense of humor and style can only get you so far…"

Apparently for her it had been enough to get to the altar…or close enough but she would have gone all the way if it hadn't been for Matt showing up like he did.

"But now he's telling everyone who'll listen that you're a kidnapper," she said, "That'll be interesting if people start showing up here, whether it will be the police first or the media."

"It'll be okay," Matt said, "The LAPD at least knows the guy's a killer and so does most of the eastern seaboard. It's only a matter of time before he goes down and I'm glad you're spared from being in the middle of that."

She nodded and as he gazed at her, he saw a look of vulnerability on her face. She looked so pretty sitting there reflecting on what had happened in the past several months, as beautiful as she had in his dreams lately.

"C.J…I don't think you should give up on finding someone to share your life with if that's what you want."

She looked over at him then.

"I do Houston…I've been thinking about it a lot lately…I love what I do, it's exciting and has its own rewards but I want more from life…I want a family, a husband and kids, maybe not all at once but some day."

"You're going to find someone," he said, "I'm sure of it."

She chuckled.

"You know Elliot wasn't even sure he wanted kids at first…I don't think he ever warmed to it actually but I really do Houston…that's what I've always wanted."

Matt did too and he had come so close to achieving his own dreams of domesticity or so he thought until the engagements went up in flames in one case nearly literally. Then he felt as she did like being back at square one.

"But I've got to figure out how to do it right I guess."

Matt shot her a look.

"I think you're being too hard on yourself," he said, "What's that old saying, you have to kiss a lot of frogs before you meet your prince, a wise woman told me once?"

She rolled her eyes at him.

"Houston…as I recalled you responded to that adage by kissing me and then making that silly frog noise."

He remembered that moment clearly.

"Oh I guess I did didn't I?"

She folded her arms.

"Damn straight you did…while I was still ahem, coming down from that kiss, which was lovely by the way."

"Really," he said, "I thought you expected me to joke about it."

She shook her head.

"Oh Houston, you know it was a come on and not the most imaginative either but you did in fact kiss me and it was…very evocative…and I sat there thinking wow, the man certainly can kiss as good as they say."

He frowned.

"Who said?"

She tilted her head.

"Just about every red blooded woman in L.A. that's who," she said, "and some outside of it."

"I think that's a bit of an exaggeration."

She sighed.

"Not much of one," she said, "Come on Houston, I'm not judging you, and you just get around and have a great time with women. Nothing wrong with that, but it's a fact."

Matt thought there was a grain of truth to what she said but he had his serious relationships too.

"I was engaged three times," he reminded her.

She softened when she considered some of the circumstances of the aborted weddings.

"I know…and I don't mean to downplay it," she said, "but I wish I was like you sometimes and could just throw caution in the wind and have fun with a guy, no strings attached, no consequences."

"It' hasn't always been that way," he said, "Remember Erin?"

Boy did she ever, hard to forget the woman who had her pinned and a knife to her throat but really she had been some sort of aberration.

"Houston, most of the time it seems like you have a lot of fun and probably some really great sex."

Matt blinked his eyes, did she just say that or was he imagining?

"C.J. what did you just say…"

She looked impatient with him.

"You heard me…you have great times with the women you go out with whether it's one night or longer than a month," she said, "I just wish I was as good at it as you are."

He looked at her a long moment.

"No you don't…C.J. you're just fine the way you are," he said, "You fall in love with a man and you put everything you have into it. A guy's lucky to have a woman like that with him…not all of them are smart enough to realize it…including me."

She narrowed her eyes.

"What are you saying exactly?"

He just looked back at her.

"You told me that you loved me once…"

"Well twice…but who's counting."

He detected a slight irritation in her voice at him and he supposed he deserved it because thinking back, it had been twice and both times after she had told him about it, he hadn't responded back. Okay, when they had been under gunfire that probably hadn't been the best time especially when they had discovered that she had taken a bullet for him.

The other time, just before his ill fated wedding to Elizabeth and that hadn't been great timing either because he had been so caught up in the furor of the impending nuptials, which he thought would begin the most meaningful chapter of his life.

"Yeah twice…I'm real sorry about that by the way."

She shrugged.

"Well thanks…I think."

She looked over at him carefully, not knowing what he was trying to get at by this rather curious and unexpected chain of comments he had just unloaded on her. How did he expect her to react, to be so happy those months after she had bared her soul to him that he had heard her?

She had to be strong and tough on him; she had to make it clear that it wouldn't be that easy for him to explain away his own inaction. And to do that, she had to keep her mind off of how sumptuous he looked in his outfit. The shirt unbuttoned enough to expose a bit of skin on his chest and she had always loved the way any pair of pants fit him.  
Why was she thinking these thoughts when she had just been about to marry another man, a man very different from the one who held her attention now? Was it the alcohol because she noticed the level inside the Scotch bottle had dropped considerably thanks largely to her.

She sighed, thinking maybe it would help to establish some physical distance from him first. So she got up off the sofa she shared with him and sat in a nearby chair. He gave her an odd look in response.

"What are you doing," he said, "Weren't you comfortable where you were sitting?"

"I like it here better…"

He rubbed his forehead.

"Did anything I say bother you?"

She shook her head.

"No, I've just been doing a lot of thinking and the part about these love declarations on my part just came to mind."

"Any reason for that," he broached.

"No, not that I can think of," she said, "After all, it was all one-sided."

His brow lifted.

"You really believe that?"

She sighed again, picking up the bottle and pouring another glass of the liquid.

"Of course…your nonresponse made that very clear to me in ways that couldn't be mistaken or misinterpreted."

He wished she hadn't left the couch.

"I'm sorry about that," he said, "I should have said something but it's just that the timing…"

She nodded.

"I know…it couldn't be worse and part of me wonders if that's not why I told you when I did."

He wondered if that were the truth.

"We shouldn't even be having this discussion," she said, "I should be having more respect for my ended relationship than I've been showing…it's as if it didn't mean anything to me and that's not the truth."

"Then what is the truth?"

She looked up at him and he saw the emotions swimming in her eyes and boy, did they look like they'd lived there a while and why hadn't he seen them earlier? Had he really been that busy elsewhere?"

"That the man that I love doesn't love me the same way in return?"

Oh her cheeks burned when the words had come back and she knew the Scotch if not talking for her had definitely prodded her to be more open with her thoughts than she would be otherwise. The look on his face just said it all but how she could retract her words now that they've been said.

Impossible, and would their lifelong friendship go up in flames as a consequence, she braced herself for that. Look at him, the man had frozen at her admission and looked at her now, wordlessly.

"Okay…I'm sorry about that," she said, trying to get herself out of her chair," I think I'll just stop drinking and go think some more by myself."

But he got up with her and grabbed her arm. She turned to face him, her eye arching.

"Really Houston, I've embarrassed myself enough by saying words that won't change anything," she said, "Instead they could damage the most important relationship in my life."

But he didn't listen to that, and instead he wrapped his arms around her waist and drew her close to him and in that split second, she knew he was responding to her words, not with more words but through his favorite means of communication which was much more physical.

And pleasurable she discovered again as his mouth closed on her own before she could even react. His lips caressed her own in exploration and her own responded in kind, when his tongue joined in, hers touched his as well. Her heart began speeding up, elation filled her body and wow, well that didn't even begin to describe it.

Finally he broke the contact between them and cupped her stunned face in his hands.

"Does that answer any questions you have about what I'm feeling," he said, his hands stroking her sides in ways that induced a gasp from her.

"Uh….."

He smiled at her speechlessness as she swept her hair back off of her face and looked at him.

"Er…."

He smiled in return.

"You liked it that much?"

She sighed.

"Yeah…I did…but Houston…why…our friendship…what's going to happen?"

He caressed her hair back and looked directly at her.

"We're always going to be the best of friends," he said, "but we're going to be more than that."

She narrowed her eyes.

"What do you mean," She said, "You've never…"

"No but I want to," he said, "I really want to…but…"

She nodded.

"I know…I'm still technically engaged to Elliot…and I'm locking lips with you…what a week."

He smiled again.

"It seems to be going much better now."

She put her hands on her hips.

"One kiss tells you that?"

"It's sure a good start," he said, "and we're alone together in this beach house surrounded by both beauty…and privacy."

She shook her head.

"Houston, we're on the run…well you're a fugitive and I guess I'm some sort of runaway bride…I've got to deal with this situation head on and not run away from it into another man's arms."

He stroked her arms all the way to her shoulders and she shivered. Damn the man had talented hands. He could have been a musician….oh wait in a way he was with the ladies.

"Yeah I know…we've got to figure out a way to resolve this situation."

She nodded.

"And so you know, this has nothing to do with how much I enjoyed that kiss and what it promised…"

That made him smile. He sat down and patted the couch next to him.

"Come on, sit down and we'll figure it out…I promise to keep my hands to myself."

She smiled at him and did just that.

"That's fine…but don't keep them entirely to yourself."

And so they sat down to try to come up with a plan to address the situation with her fiancé and what to do next.


	9. Chapter 9

Another update, thanks for reading and the feedback!

* * *

The two of them sat together on the couch to think of a way to address the whole hostage taking, runaway bride situation but try as she might, C.J. just couldn't get her mind off of the kiss.

She had been shocked when he had approached her but damn, had it jolted through her body so pleasantly, the remnants she still felt now. Matt just continued trying to strategize as if it had never happened. She so envied men and their ability to compartmentalize everything.

But oh yeah wait, he had put the whole burgeoning romance on hold until they worked through the entanglements of her engagement. Yes, the wedding might have been aborted by their abrupt departure before she even walked down the aisle but her relationship with the suave businessman who killed people for a living still had been somewhat unresolved. At least completely, because the man was taking to the airwaves and insisting his bride to be had been snatched away from him by a remorseless man who knew her.

When nothing could be further from the truth because wasn't her groom the one who had been breaking the law? Just like Robert…this made two homicidal boyfriends practically in a row for her, not the best of records.

Matt had killed but only in self defense or to protect individuals in danger including her like when he had shot some crooked deputies who had kidnapped women like herself and forced them into prostitution.

She looked over at him now as he wrote a list of tasks for them to carry out for them to put this situation behind them and then what…her lips tingled at the memory. Oh yeah, she definitely wanted more of that not to mention the rest of him.

"C.J…"

She returned to the present.

"What….oh yeah, it sounds great Houston."

He gave her a curious look.

"Where were you just now?"

She sighed, leaning closer to him.

"Where you are, in the living room planning what to do next," she said.

He nodded and she guessed her answer at least made sense to him. What did the guy expect when he dropped a kiss on her like that, to just tuck it away as some nice memory and pretend it never happened?

"Okay…I think we need to call some of our contacts in L.A…Hoyt…Roy and clue them in on our plan…"

"Which is…," she said, because she had missed some of that part.

"To first of all find out how the indictment process is going…Now we know the grand jury process is done secretly but there must be some way to get some approximation of how much more time they're going to need."

She nodded.

"That's doable," she said, "If you have a contact at the U.S. Attorney's office," she said, "Didn't you date someone from there, a…Felicia her name was…"

C.J. had remembered the ice blond with the elegant wardrobe quite well when she had discovered her and Matt canoodling on the sofa over breakfast when she arrived at the penthouse suite one morning.

"I know that relationship didn't last long but surely you parted on good terms."

Matt nodded.

"Semi…but I'm sure all is forgiven by now," he said, "Two years have passed, I'll give it a shot."

She smiled, and nodded again.

"Okay…we need to counter this media onslaught that Elliot has done portraying himself as the wronged party…the victim of the ruthless bride-napper."

Matt scoffed.

"That's not difficult; the guy's a hired killer."

"Yeah but that's not official knowledge yet and we don't want to risk the indictment process."

Matt could see the logic in that because a man like Elliot, he really belonged behind bars in a maximum security prison for the rest of his life.

"I'm being painted as some scorned lover of yours," he said, "breaking up a marriage before it even happened."

C.J. mouth turned up in a smile.

"Scorned lover…that's a bit of an overreach don't you think," she said, "I mean all we've ever done is kiss…though until today I didn't understand what it was like to be so thoroughly kissed by you."

Matt cleared his throat.

"That's the nicest thing any woman's said to me…"

She threw him a knowing look.

"In a while…," he finished, "Especially by a woman who knows her way around kissing herself."

She shrugged.

"What can I say, I went with the moment."

"Now that's modest…"

She sighed.

"Not really Houston…can we get back to planning our case of action?"

They did that for some time before C.J. broke to get something else to drink besides Scotch because she had begun to feel a bit too relaxed sitting there which had to be from the alcohol imbibed and not just being around him. Because really she needed to be on her toes sitting so close to him after what had happened. Despite their agreement to keep things on ice until this situation had reached its conclusion.

Because she had agreed to be good after all, not sure that she could keep that promise. Not when he had felt so good, his hands on her waist and his mouth…well never mind,. Time to get serious before they ran into Elliot during the moments he wasn't playing the wronged fiancé and would be channeling his more ruthless side or the media might show and expose their hiding place as some kind of love nest.

"I think we should give a press conference," C.J. said, "to counter all this bad press describing us as kidnapper and victim…or you as a scorned lover if that's not going to work for you."

Matt considered that stroking his chin thoughtfully.

"I'd rather be the not scorned lover…"

She just dropped her jaw open when he said that.

"Houston…put the Scotch down like I did and don't write checks your ass can't cash."

He just looked at her nonchalantly.

"I'm not drinking Scotch."

Oh yeah, she had been doing most of the hitting on the Scotch since they had returned to the beach house for this planning session after being blitzed by the media campaign orchestrated by Elliot or his PR team.

"Houston…I'm leaving…I'm going to go make myself a sandwich in the kitchen and then lie down a while because I'm feeling tired and this teasing of yours isn't fair."

She got up and he watched her go, as she took what was left of the Scotch with her into the kitchen. He settled on the couch and flipped on the television, his eyes widening when he saw the screen.

That woman, what's her name, the one who had torn into C.J. on her wedding day wore a simple black dress with a string of pearls around her neck and diamond earrings on her ears. She sat there, choking up and was that the glimmer of her tear in her eye. Matt prepared to listen to what she had to say knowing it just had to be good.

"Yes…Phillip, thank you for asking me that…I am just so shocked that some man could crash such a sanctimonious event as a wedding and grab the bride, my future sister-in-law at gunpoint and drag her away while she screamed for help."

Say what, Matt thought, C.J. hadn't…he sighed, yet another member of that crime committing family standing up and acting like the victim or to get their 15 minutes of attention. But Delilah hadn't finished yet.

"I will personally thank the person who delivers D.J…"

"C.J.," Matt said, without thinking.

It seemed almost as if the woman heard him.

"I mean C.J…I will personally wrap my arms around that kind heroic person and thank them from the bottom of my heart."

Matt wondered why she didn't just offer up a reward from her generous trust fund. The anchor who must be Phil nodded at the angst filled woman.

"Do you or your brother…Elliot plan to offer any rewards for her return?"

Delilah made a face.

"We do not wish to reduce this to being about something petty like squabbling over money nor do we wish to mar the return of our loved one by some sort of feeding frenzy…"

"Oh my God…"

Matt looked behind him and saw C.J. just about ready to drop her plate at the sight in front of her.

"She has never said a kind word to me since I've known her," she said, "On the other hand, she's tried to bribe me, threaten me and harass me into breaking off with her brother…probably should have listened to her in retrospect."

"Sounds like a charming lady…"

She sighed.

"Maybe she just had this overprotective thing going on with her brother," she said, "I just never saw this side of her."

Matt figured that Delilah must be playing her own angle in this situation but couldn't figure out right now what it would be, maybe something to do with protecting her brother or someone else? After all, hadn't she been having an affair with one of his rivals and was she aware that the law was about to catch up with her family including her brother?

"I mean she almost sounded believable on television just now…almost."

She sat down in a chair with her sandwich on a plate in front of her. She shot him a glance back when she saw him looking at her.

"Did you want one…the fixings are still in the kitchen?"

He shook his head.

"Does she know what her brother really does?"

C.J. bit into her sandwich with a shrug.

"I doubt she'd care if she did," she said, "but Delilah's a bit self-absorbed as they call it and she might not have a clue. She does tend to idealize him."

"She's in for the shock of her life if she doesn't know," Matt said, "because when Roy and I were doing surveillance, Elliot had killed two people in about as many days."

C.J. knew she should have been shocked but seriously she wasn't anymore.

"Were they rivals of his family?"

"Nah…they were representing some workers at one of the plants one of the capos owns…trying to get better conditions."

She rubbed her forehead.

"He came back from some trip back east with a necklace for me, made out of diamonds surrounded by emeralds…he knew how much I liked them but I could never wear it…it just didn't feel right."

Matt watched her face which had frowned when she had recalled that memory, of the man she thought she had loved and it turned out she hadn't even known. She returned back to her sandwich chewing it thoughtfully.

"I meant what I said," he told her, "about us…when this is over…"

She looked at him suddenly.

"Houston…maybe it wouldn't work…I mean there's more to a relationship than amazing kisses and sex."

The word that hung between them now that she had said it…oh well there was no room for subtly in defining what had changed between them. He didn't seem shocked at her statement at all.

"C.J. we're best friends and anything else we bring into that will just make it so much better," he said, "I really am looking forward to discovering how much."

She rolled her eyes at him.

"Seriously Houston…I don't know if I'll be up for it after this adventure."

Those eyebrows of his moved on their own volition again, a sure sign he had mischief in mind. She moved out of his reach and if he noticed, he didn't let on.

"I think that it will be great…I don't have any doubts at all."

Her brow arched up.

"Really Houston…because I'm hoping you're right…if I even think about what you're suggesting."

"Oh you'll do more than think about it," he said, "I'll bet all my money on that."

She furrowed her brows considering that because he did have quite a bit.

"I'll think about whether I'll take that wager," she said, "but you might lose."

He shook his head.

"I think in the end, we'll both come out winners," he said, "Now excuse me while I go make myself a sandwich."

He got up to go to the kitchen and her eyes followed him, what was he really up to now?


	10. Chapter 10

Another update is up, thanks for reading and the feedback!

* * *

C.J. threw her lasso up to where she hoped it would rope the turret of the castle which loomed in front of her. She had ridden her palomino stallion up to the dirt road leading up to the huge building surrounded by a moat. One filled with crocodiles or piranhas or something equally toothy that would take a bite or more out of any poor soul that miscalculated the trajectory to latch onto the castle and rappel up the stone face to the tower on top.

She took a step back and then took a deep breath. No guards dressed in impressive armor looked over the edge of the castle for any invaders or even interlopers. She had been prepared with what was this in her hand, a cross bow? She didn't know how to use one did she? She must, why would she have it with her. My how confusing things had gotten in this journey, but she couldn't dwell on that.

She had a man to rescue who had been held prisoner by a ruthless princess who wanted to be queen and she needed a consort to do that, anyone with a pulse would satisfy under the rather bizarre codicil of her father's will.

C.J. tried not to think about the immense danger that awaited her even if she made it successfully to the top and she calculated the distance once more in her head as she drew her arm back to toss the rope to where it could catch on the turret. She watched, shielding her face against the sun as she watched it nearly fall short but then somehow, it caught the turret…well one of the pointy edges of it anyway. She pulled the rope to test its hold up above and satisfied that it would support her weight, she began her tedious climb up the face of the 20 foot wall.

Where were the guards anyway? Shouldn't the castle be guarded with if not guards, a fire breathing dragon or two? A watch dog, or at least the queen's lord in waiting? But she couldn't see anyone up above her or on the ground below her and she had to keep on going.

Time was a wasting.

Her muscles tensed and began to cramp in her legs as she hauled herself up the side of the castle and finally she reached the top and without looking down, she hoisted herself over and dropped onto the tower. She unhooked herself from the rope and went to peer into the tower.

Inside the window, she saw him sitting on the bed, the man that had been chosen by the future queen to be her consort and damn, the woman had some serious good taste even if she had been flawed in nearly every other way. She found the door locked so she knocked on the window. He looked up and her eyes widened at the sight.

Matt?

Oh my, he sat there dressed in medieval britches and a long shirt, his face handsome framed with dark hair and wearing a mustache and some serious five o'clock shadow. He looked a little tired but still appeared to be every inch the man she had worked with for many years…she just couldn't figure out why he was inside this tower. But then again, she didn't know why she was here.

He smiled at the sight of her and went over to help her open the window so she could crawl inside, putting the crossbow she had slung over her shoulder on the floor.

"Houston…what are you doing here?"

He got up and just shook his head.

"It's Princess Serena, she needs to marry and produce a heir before she can be anointed queen of the kingdom."

C.J. remembered seeing the spoiled young woman prone to temper tantrums during royal processions through the village where she worked as a barrister of sorts to represent villagers when they appealed their scheduled beheadings or time in the stocks before a rather biased judge, the princess herself.

"Houston, we have to get you out of here."

"There's no escape," he said, "The wedding is set for the hour before sunset which is…"

C.J. looked out the window and estimated that there were only several hours until that time which left little to act.

"We have time..but you're going to have to help me…"

Instead he drew her into his arms and his lips brushed against her own and she forgot about the pending rescue. His lips clung to hers as he placed his hands on her face while he worshiped her mouth.

"Houston…"

But he ignored her running his hands beneath her tunic, touching bare skin which sizzled under his fingers. She broke the kiss and placed her hands on his wrists.

"We can't do this," she said, "We have to get out of here quickly…"

He pulled off his shirt and showed off his impressive muscular chest sprinkled with dark hair…the man kept in shape doing something…maybe engaging in sword duels when he hadn't been pushing the wheel back in the village.

"I can't leave…you're too damn beautiful…"

She felt his fingers in her hair after he had pulled his hands from her grasp and she looked at his chest right within reach before she sighed, and began stroking it with her hands as they kissed again….

"What is this…."

A shrilly voice broke their interlude and they turned to see Princess Serena shooting deadly lasers at them with her eyes.

"Noooo….," C.J. said before…

* * *

She woke up on the couch with a start wondering how she got here…which was, oh yeah the secluded beach house where she and Matt had been staying. She must have been dreaming because she and he…had been somewhere else in very different clothing…in each other's arms.

Where was the star of her latest dream anyway?

"Houston…"

He looked over at her from where he sat working on a computer.

"I'm here…you must have been having some dream."

She nodded back at him, struggling to sit up but at least feeling more refreshed.

"Yeah…must have been from the Scotch…"

He looked over at the mostly empty bottle and raised his brows.

"Yeah I'd say so," he said, "but it sounded exciting and somewhat…romantic?"

Her skin flushed, how in the hell did he know that? Lucky guess on his part?

"How…"

He smiled back at her.

"Did you ever know you talk in your sleep?"

She furrowed her brow trying to remember.

"No…what did I say…nothing embarrassing I hope."

He shook his head.

"Not that I'm not very flattered by what you did say," he said, "You kept telling me that we couldn't…well I guess one of us was wearing less in your dream."

She frowned.

"Oh Houston…It was just a silly dream. I was rescuing you from an evil princess…I think she was that spoiled heiress Serena you fancied a while back…and you started getting a bit amorous."

His brows waggled at that.

"Sounds like a wonderful dream…how far did we get?"

She shot him a pointed look.

"I'm not saying…but I woke up just in time."

He settled back in his chair.

"That's too bad," he said, "because it would have been great between us."

She shook her head.

"Houston, it's just a dream, there wouldn't have been anything going on between us. Not really."

He nodded.

"Yes that's right, because dreams are wish fulfillment that we engage in including what we don't dare think about when we're awake."

"How do you know that?"

"Because when we kissed, I felt it," he said, "and your dream, which is an extension of what you wish would happen clinched it."

"Clinched what?"

"What's going to happen with us once we're done with this," Matt said, "What happens after the kiss."

Damn, he sounded so sure of himself, how could that be when her own feelings were tangled in such a contentious knot, one that she felt in the pit of her stomach when she was around him.

"There might not be anything," she said, "I don't want to blow our friendship."

"We won't…it will be much better with us than it's ever been."

She shook her head and got off the couch.

"Houston, you need to get a grip on it," she said, "We might not work out if we got physical…it might put up a wall between us."

"I don't think so," he said, "The only wall is the one that you're trying to put up now."

She sighed, and continued walking.

"That's not true," she said, "How's your investigating going?"

He looked up at her from the computer.

"While you were napping, I called Roy and he's going to meet us at the diner later on," Matt said, "Elliot did decide to come up with a hefty reward for your safe return after all."

"What did Delilah have to say about that," C.J. said, "I don't imagine she was thrilled."

Matt clicked some keys on his computer.

"They've also opened up another investigation into your fiancé for two killings in Miami about six months ago."

She nodded.

"I remember…he said he had a summer home there that he often stayed at to escape the rigors of the business world...how could I have been so gullible?"

Matt believed she was being way too hard on herself. After all, the guy had been smooth enough to pull this identify of himself as a hard working, hard climbing business man very well. The killings were done discreetly, mostly involving members of society that not many people cared about and he had slipped away quickly enough from the scene of his jobs to get paid.

"He's under investigation in 10 cities in five states and also in Mexico, Canada and Brazil as well."

She sighed at the news.

"Wow, I wonder where he found the time for our relationship."

"The good news is that the walls are closing all around him and they'll indict him soon enough," Matt said, "I called that lady friend of mine with the federal prosecutors and she didn't say much but that they were looking at a list of players in a sweeping probe."

"That's vague…did she miss you at all?"

Matt just looked at her.

"I didn't ask…C.J., our relationship was nice but it ran its course…we were both very busy people."

"I'm not saying anything," C.J. said, "Like I said, I envy you that."

He shook his head at her and then returned to his work and she went to the kitchen. She had to get away from him because her dream still lingered as did the sensations that it had generated in her body. Looking at him just then had caused her to go weak in the knees because in the dream…

She sighed, at the complexity of her life. Here she had been engaged just earlier this week, about to walk down the aisle before running off with Matt and now she had these feelings for him, that felt like they had been kept under wraps for far too long, and she didn't know how she would rein them in but knew she had to do that. If anything could develop between them, it had to wait until she extricated herself completely out of Elliot's world.

Because despite the fact that she hadn't walked down the aisle with him, he still acted as if she had been taken…which wasn't helped by the fact that Matt had pretended to kidnap her to spare her from any repercussions by a groom who was also a hit man who might not like being stood up at the altar by his bride.

She hated putting him in that position even though it had been his own decision but he had always looked after her like that since they were kids. She'd do the same for him and she had without hesitation. But now with that kiss…he had made it clear he wanted more from her and she found herself wanting to explore that with him.

Suddenly, her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the front door. She walked out to the living room and Matt had motioned for her to be quiet. Perhaps it was a neighbor who might not pursue it further if they believed the house to be empty…so they waited.

But then came more knocks and Matt and C.J. knew then that someone already knew that the house was occupied and perhaps even by who.


	11. Chapter 11

Another update is up, thanks for reading and the feedback!

* * *

C.J. and Matt looked at each other and then at the door. Should they just wait before answering, maybe the person on the other side of it would figure no one was home and then go away, leaving them.

But then the knocks resumed and C.J. sighed.

"I guess they figure someone's here."

Matt nodded, thinking quickly. Maybe it was just one of the neighbors and they had their cover story ready. She went over and opened it and found a young woman standing there with a basket.

"Hi, you must be the house sitters," she said, "I'm Ivory, from next door. I brought you some things I baked this afternoon…fresh muffins and some leftover pot roast."

Matt and C.J. glanced at each other again. The woman looked harmless enough but you could never be sure and given that they were hiding out, they had to exercise caution when dealing with strangers. How did they know that Ivory wasn't really someone who had been sent to find them by Elliot or other members of the five families?

But then again, the leftovers smelled pretty good and C.J. took the basket from Ivory and took it into the kitchen. Matt looked at her, trying to figure out how to figure out exactly who she was and why she had come here.

"So how long are you…house sitting?"

Matt scratched his jaw.

"Oh a week…maybe two…our friends aren't sure when they're coming back," he said, "We've been enjoying the time together."

Ivory narrowed her eyes.

"You don't look married…"

"No we aren't," he said, then winked at her, "but I'm working on it. She's a little bit hesitant on making a commitment."

"I'm what….?"

Matt blinked as he looked to see C.J. come up behind him with her arms folded.

"Oh you're back…"

She tilted her face at the both of them.

"I've always been here…I've just been in the kitchen putting away that nice food," she said, "that Ivory was so thoughtful to bring us."

He nodded.

"Was I interrupting anything," Ivory asked.

C.J. smiled.

"Oh no…why don't you sit down and join us for some coffee…?"

Ivory shook her head.

"I've got to some errands but thanks for the invite," she said, "Maybe I'll see you around…there's a lot to do here…concerts…town picnics and bazaar sales…things like that."

"Sounds lovely," C.J. said, "We might have to check some of those out won't we sweetheart?"

Matt had to keep from raising his brow at her choice of words.

"Yeah…sure…"

Ivory smiled at them again and then walked out the front door and after she left, C.J. looked over at Matt.

"You laid this couple thing on her a bit thick didn't you?"

Matt didn't appear the least apologetic.

"Look we need it as an alibi to explain why we're here," he said, "As long as we don't make it too complicated."

"It's already getting to be that," C.J. said, "and I'm not the one who shared that with a stranger."

Matt looked bemused as she sat down on the couch.

"She's probably really just a friendly neighbor," he said, "Nothing to worry about."

C.J. stretched out.

"You're probably right," she said, "I'm just so nervous that we're going to get discovered before we make our own move."

Matt joined her on the couch.

"I'm sure that while they're probably looking for us, they aren't around here."

"What makes you so sure Houston?"

He looked over at her.

"They'd probably call a press conference announcing it."

She sighed.

"You might be right about that," she said, "So when are we meeting Roy?"

"Tonight at that diner in the village…it's a bit off the beaten path."

She nodded.

"I hope he's got some good ideas….Really I feel bad that you're stuck here with me instead of doing your work back in L.A."

Matt shrugged.

"I wouldn't call it stuck," he said, "Maybe a long overdue vacation?"

She chuckled at that.

"It's definitely been interesting spending this time with you," she said, "Just when you think you really know someone, he helps you escape your own wedding."

"That was pretty exciting," Matt agreed, "We'll have to think of something to top it."

C.J. raised her brow.

"I can think of a couple things but maybe they'd better wait," she said, "Enough excitement in here already."

Matt thought that she looked happy enough despite everything going on around them especially when she sat there next to him looking at him like that. His heart skipped a beat.

"Are you sure about that?"

She nodded.

"Yeah I think so," she said, "After all, we have to be in the proper state of mind when we meet with Roy."

Matt though that left plenty of opportunity for them to wile away the hours in the meantime but C.J. apparently had other plans.

She stood up and stretched her arms.

"I'm heading to the beach to get some sun," she said, "You can join me if you'd like."

His facial expression told her what which option he liked.

* * *

Later, she spread her towel on the beach before lying down with her novel pretty close to where the waves broke on shore. The tide would rise later on but she had plenty of time to enjoy the perfect spot to relax, as she had been doing since they had been staying at the beach house. It had been great to get away from Elliot and the mess surrounding their wedding. But if Matt hadn't crashed the estate just hours before the ceremony what would she have done, would she have married a man who turned out to be a hired killer?

She would like to have said not but that's exactly what she had been planning to do despite having some misgivings about it.

"Want some company?"

She looked up to see him with carrying a towel while dressed in those breathtaking black Speedos she enjoyed so much. She had to look away when he sat down beside her before reminding herself that he had been her best friend forever.

"It's so beautiful out here," C.J. said, "I think maybe I'd like to move here."

Matt's brow rose.

"Are you serious?"

She pondered his question.

"Maybe…I like the city…I just would like to get away from it."

Matt heard the wistful tone in her voice.

"You could commute from here…though it's a bit of a drive," he said, "or use the chopper."

She smiled.

"I might do that."

"You really want that kind of change," he asked.

She bit her lip and nodded.

"Yeah I've been doing a lot of thinking and god, after I nearly married a hit man, I think I need to sit back and reevaluate where I'm going in my life."

He sighed.

"I think you were going in a pretty good direction…except for the detour into marriage of course."

She didn't bristle at his assessment like she thought she might.

"I guess you're right," she said, "I loved my work and my friends and spending time in L.A. just not all the time and spending time with you…although that got less and less in the past few months."

He looked out into the sparkling waters of the ocean.

"I know that…and I've missed being with you," he said, "I almost wish I hadn't taken that surveillance job."

She shot him a look.

"Of course you wanted to take it," she said, "It's part of who you are Houston…it's why you took up investigating in the first place."

"I wanted to help people…but surveilling a cabal of organized criminal families…that's a bit outside it."

She reached for some more sunscreen.

"If you hadn't done that I never would have known what Elliot really had been doing," she said, "I'd still be in the dark and I might be married to him."

Matt closed his eyes unable to even contemplate that reality.

"I think you'd figure it out on your own," he said, "It wasn't just me being there."

She folded her arms and looked directly at him.

"Come on Houston, I was about to walk down the aisle with a man who probably lied about what he did on every business trip he ever took."

Matt sighed.

"He did complete a lot of contracts..."

"Another word for killing a lot of people," she said, "He seemed like this great guy, nice, funny, sexy as hell…well I guess you don't need to know about that part…but he was kind of reticent about his professional life."

And that's when she told herself she should have been more vigilant at figuring out that the man had something to hide, a part of himself clearly had been withheld from her. She had tried to probe a little bit, gently but he hadn't said very much.

She just stretched out on her towel and picked up her novel, to start reading it. Matt just looked at her and stood up to go out into the ocean for a brief swim. He enjoyed swimming in the ocean, taking long swims along the coast for an hour at a time before washing back on shore to eat a huge breakfast.

He broke cleanly into the surf and started moving away with clean, sure strokes. Matt seemed so sure about everything in his life, why didn't she have that same certainty about her own?

* * *

Later, after they had finished up and had showered back at the beach house, they headed to meet Roy at the diner. After parking the car, they headed into the place and saw him sitting with sunglasses in the back booth. He looked up and smiled at them as they slid into the seat opposite him.

"You're alone…"

Roy nodded.

"I thought it would be better this way…the fewer people know…"

"Yeah…we're kind of fugitives right now."

Roy sipped his iced tea.

"The police aren't really actively involved in the search," he said, "They sense at least that Elliot's not the grieving or jilted fiancé that he appears to be."

"It's reassuring that they've given this some thought," Matt observed.

"But Elliot and his sister, Delilah her name is, are hitting every talk show in L.A. getting airtime to paint you as a jilted ex-lover crashing the wedding and abducting the bride at gunpoint…"

"Didn't happen…though there was a gun involved…actually more than one of them."

Roy nodded before continuing.

"They believe that C.J. is emotionally distraught, perhaps even imbalanced and incapable of making decisions on her own."

C.J. picked up a menu.

"So they're trying to get me institutionalized?"

Roy appeared somber when the waitress came to take their orders.

"That might be part of the plan."

C.J. shook his head.

"Why do they always assume when a woman leaves her fiancé that it's because there's something wrong with her?"

Roy looked at Matt.

"I mean that usually means there's something wrong with the guy," she said, "I think I'm going to try to get some equal time so that I can get the truth out about what's really going on here."

"I don't know if that's wise C.J...if there are police involved, they might come to the studio during the interview."

She sighed.

"Houston…Hoyt would have told us if that were going to be a problem…in fact I believe he said the opposite."

Matt remembered that conversation too though mostly because Hoyt had sounded irate on the phone. Roy nodded.

"It might work…though maybe we could arrange a remote interview and not disclose your location to the talk show."

"You mean a phone in," Matt asked.

"Possibly or through web cam…"

C.J. brightened.

"That sounds like a great idea," she said, "If it's encrypted no one will be able to find us."

"I don't know about that," Matt warned, "Elliot can probably afford the best."

C.J. considered that possibility but they had to try it because her ex-fiance and his sister had already taken a huge lead with the war on words and they needed at least to keep pace and get the truth out there.

Matt read her face and sighed.

"Okay, we'll go back to the beach house and set something up," he said, "There's a guy out here named Xian who knows a lot about media and computers who can help us."

C.J. remembered him from a case they had handled last year when his prototype for new computer software had been stolen and they had spent weeks looking for it before finally retrieving it after a showdown with plenty of gunfire exchanged.

"Let's do it…"

And they spent the rest of their time in the diner deciding how to do just that.


	12. Chapter 12

Another update! Thanks for reading and the feedback!

* * *

C.J. drove the Ferrari like it was zooming around a raceway while she traveled down PCH to meet up with Xian, the man who was a whizz with computers and would help them break the code…no wait a minute, actually he was going to help them interface with the media because of course neither of them had any people skills. Well, not enough of them to undo the damage to their reputations that the media blitz carried out by Elliot and Delilah had already accomplished.

After all, she had looked at a morning talk show just that morning while sipping on some java and had seen some redheaded news anchor with a gleam in her eyes airing out what she thought had been some dirty laundry. But really, C.J. had not been some helpless victim, nor was she a two-timing, gold digging harlot. Matt of course wasn't a bride-nabber nor was he a gigolo poaching on another man's turf. But what kind of image could they project…oh yeah the truth…that Elliot was a no-good professional assassin and had kept that rather crucial information about himself under wraps during his whirlwind courtship of C.J.

"C.J…do you think you're going a little bit fast?"

She smiled at him as they whizzed around a curve.

"Relax Houston…you know when I was 20, I spent my summer off from school going out with an Indy racer…"

Oh she remembered that summer fling all too well. Randy loved fast cars and even faster women and she hadn't been all that fast but when they had been together, va-voom! She looked over at Matt who shouldn't talk really because he had more speeding tickets back at the office than she did, so he should just settle down and let her drive.

"Yeah C.J…and I don't know what it is that you did but he moved up three positions in the standings on that Monaco circuit."

She smiled widely because yes indeed, Randy had and maybe she had a hand in it, she thought as she turned off PCH and onto a gravely single-laned road that wound around a couple hairpin turns which she took on deftly.

"You know if investigating ever doesn't do it for me," she said, "I think I'll take up auto racing."

Matt's eyes widened just a little bit at that.

"Are you sure that's a wise choice," he said, "Besides I'd miss you a lot."

She smiled again at him.

"Houston, that's really sweet of you to say that," she said, "By the way, I think Crystal…what's her name…was on television this morning making an emotional appeal for you to return to L.A…to turn yourself in or something like that."

Matt furrowed his brow.

"She's…we went out a few times before all this happened…"

C.J. turned into what looked like a small parking area in front of a wooden cabin.

"Houston…did you coming after me mess up your social calendar?"

She parked the car and they prepared to get out of it. Sad to leave it even for a little while actually. It had been clever of Roy to suggest that they swap vehicles so that no one would be looking for them in this one. Matt hadn't driven it much and she had fantasized about driving it more than she could count. But the reality had even been better than what she imagined. She wondered if that were true about a couple of other things as well.

"C.J. I'm where I want to be," he said, "and Crystal's probably moved on by now."

* * *

They headed to the front door and after they rung it, a bespectled man with a shock of grey hair stood there looking at them puzzled.

"Hi…I'm Matt Houston…my uncle said that you'd be expecting us."

Suddenly comprehension hit Xian's face.

"Ah yes, come right on in," he said, "The place is a little bit chaotic but there's some space in the living room."

C.J. and Matt looked around and sure enough, there were computers, cameras and other technological gizmos everywhere, not to mention bookshelves overfilled with books on different topics.

He pointed out some chairs for them to sit down and he brought out what looked like some iced tea and poured it into glasses for them. They sipped politely and found out it didn't taste so bad.

"So what do you need," Xian said, "Roy wasn't too specific…something about you needing to define a better media image."

C.J. nodded.

"You see…we've been presented by others as being far different than who we are in reality…we just want to get the truth out there to the public."

Xian crossed his arms, watching them carefully.

"Oh yes, the bridezilla and the man who rustled her," he said.

C.J. gave him a startled look.

"Excuse me?"

Xian picked up a notepad and a pen and prepared to start writing.

"That's the most recent news going around about what happened at the wedding that never happened."

C.J. sighed.

"That's not what happened at all…you see…my fiancé, Elliot, kills people for a living and well, he wined and dined me and then he proposed to me and I said yes…but he never really told me about his job…except that he traveled on business a lot."

"You mean you nearly married an assassin for hire," Xian said, "Surely you must have seen some signs…"

C.J. rolled her eyes.

"He just seemed like a great guy…but sometimes I wonder if there is really such a thing."

Xian reached over to pat her on the shoulder.

"You know I have a son you could meet…"

Matt interrupted.

"We need to figure out what to issue as a statement to the press," he said, "I'm not sure a press conference will do it."

Xian nodded.

"Too much to rehabilitate and too little time to do it," he said.

Matt and C.J. just looked at each other.

"But you could appear via satellite from the studio I have in the back on one of the local talk shows," Xian said, "I'll just give my pal Joey a call…I believe you met him."

Matt drew a blank.

"Joey?"

"Oh yes, the computer whiz kid who you and C.J. saved from murder charges when one of his robots went loco."

Oh _that _Joey, C.J. thought, remembering that case they had solved from a while back.

"He's a producer now with the _L.A. Daily Story _and he'll help with the technical side of the broadcast."

C.J. looked at Matt again.

"That sounds good, what do you think?"

Matt just nodded, hoping this would work. Murray had called up and had told him that the stock in his company had already risen because apparently some of the companies under the conglomerate umbrella had thrived under the publicity of his exploits.

C.J. turned to Xian.

"All right, we'll be back tomorrow," she said, "Give us a call with the time."

Xian nodded.

"Will do that and you can spend some of the time thinking about what you want the public to know about the two of you…"

C.J. didn't know if she wanted everyone to know, considering herself a private person and she definitely wasn't advertising how she felt about…her best friend these days. It must be the adrenalin rush of escaping from a wedding with gunfire following them and being in close quarters hiding out in such a lovely place.

"We'll see you tomorrow," Matt said, getting up and reaching for C.J.'s hand.

She looked at him sideways and then took it, and they left together.

* * *

Heading back to the beach house left C.J. some time to think about what Xian had said to them. She knew that she certainly didn't want people to view her as a victim in all this…well actually she didn't care what they thought but Matt hadn't been kidnapping her for some nefarious purpose or because he had been jealous of Elliot but because he had been concerned about her marrying a murderer. If Matt hadn't been there…god she might have walked down the aisle with him and she'd be on the honeymoon right now…with a killer.

That chilled her inside, the thought of it and she looked over at Matt who sat shotgun in the Ferrari that she drove back.

"What do you want your image to be," she asked him.

He glanced over at her and smiled.

"I'm the infamous bride-napper who couldn't stand to see you walking down the aisle with anyone else so I resorted to some rather desperate measures."

Her brow arched.

"Oh really…I guess I could play along with that," she said, "that I only agreed to marry Elliot because you and me…we could never get it to work."

"Did we even try?"

She kept her focus on PCH.

"Well no Houston…but maybe we should agree that we did for the purposes of building our characters to prepare for this interview."

He nodded.

"Okay…but why don't we do that over some dinner out on the beach," he said, "We could cook some steaks and get some wine and make it a working dinner."

She considered that carefully, reading something in his eyes that made her pause. What was he really up to, she wondered and did she really care?

They turned off the highway making sure no one was tailing them and they were indeed alone and they reached the beach house and after getting out, they walked inside the residence and C.J. dropped herself on the couch.

"You are going to do the cooking?"

Matt sat down beside her on the couch.

"I will if you do the vegetables."

She nodded, thinking that sounded fair enough because she knew a couple of great recipes that she often made when they hit the kitchen together back at his beach house.

"Do you really think we're going to get much work done sitting on the beach," she asked, "The interview's tomorrow and we don't even have our stories straight yet."

Matt smiled stretching out.

"I think we'll do just fine," he said, "and we'll work it all out one way or another."

She considered that carefully.

"Okay what's the dress," she said, "Will casual be fine?"

"Casual will be great," he said, "Some great food, great scenery and we'll do some brainstorming okay?"

That sounded just fine to her. Though if they were going to put together a portrait of some star-crossed lovers deal she wasn't sure that would work. But maybe the public would go for it and Murray wouldn't be acting so nervous all the time right now. Roy had been giving them some daily reports on the president's blood pressure readings. She sighed, just thinking that he needed to get a grip and find something else to occupy his attention besides work. After all, she had tried burying herself in work and where did it get her when she finally did decide to do some playing?

Right into the arms of a murderous psychopath.

After this episode was over, she was going back to L.A. and do some serious reexamination of her life.

* * *

They cooked together in the kitchen, he getting the steaks just right while she sliced and diced several vegetables, put them in light oil in the pan and stir fried them. The wine they found back in the collection in the basement of the house and along with it, a nice patterned blanket perfect for a picnic on the beach.

After they carried their plates of food and supplies to their favorite spot, she spread out the blanket and they sat on it to start eating. Both were starving and made short work of the meal and then started really working on the wine. C.J. felt herself loosen up and she noticed that he seemed content as well.

"So what was our relationship like," she asked him.

He pursed his lips.

"Well we didn't get together until…recently but it was pretty intense."

"It would have to be if it's so short and sweet Houston…"

Mischief colored his eyes.

"I don't know if I'd call it sweet," he said, "But just when things were going so well, we…"

C.J. settled onto the blanket.

"We broke up," she said, "Was it a big huge fight or was it the little things adding up?"

Matt tilted his head.

"I'm not sure of that part," he said, "I guess we just grew apart and then…the fight."

She rubbed her forehead.

"Okay that might work…but if we fought and broke up, why'd you tote a gun at a wedding to get me back?"

That made him pause for a moment and she enjoyed watching him think of a scenario dressed in his faded jeans and jersey shirt.

"I guess I realized that I might have been too quick to end the relationship," he said, "and had second thoughts about not being with you."

C.J. smiled.

"Okay…maybe me too…a little but you know I was almost at the altar and I guess when I saw you instead…"

Matt sipped his wine.

"You wanted to get back together with me?"

She shook her head.

"No…that's not it," she said, "I just wanted more than what I was going to get from Elliot…especially since he was a hired hit man."

Matt considered that while watching her look out into the ocean dressed in her jeans and a cotton blouse. Her dark wavy hair settling on her shoulders, damn she looked beautiful. Suddenly it seemed that it wouldn't be difficult to play the roles they were creating for themselves after all. Maybe because there was some reality injected into them?

He gazed into her eyes and wondered what thoughts moved her, and then he leaned closer to her and kissed her.


	13. Chapter 13

Another update is up, thanks for reading and the feedback!

* * *

His lips felt soft on her own at first and she enjoyed that, and when he wrapped his arms around her, she didn't move away. Because she really didn't want to do that, not when it felt so wonderful. He ran his fingers through her hair and she felt warmth spread through her.

Then she remembered something and she did pull away from him, reluctantly.

"Houston…I was engaged just a few days ago."

He tried to slow his breathing down.

"Yeah I know…I don't know what came over me."

C.J. smiled back at him because she had known what came over her. That she had wanted to kiss him back because she had wanted that for a long time.

"It's just us being in such close proximity I think," she said, "and all the excitement around us…It's never been anything more than friendship between us in all the years we've known each other."

Matt listened to her rationalize what had happened and her belief that she had read the situation and himself correctly.

"I know…but we're hanging out together at a beautiful beach and…"

She got up and brushed the sand off of her pants.

"I got it Houston," she said, "See you later…"

He looked at her dismayed.

"What's the matter?"

She folded her arms looking down at him.

"Nothing…I just…I've seen you in action, heard the same words and you only mean them for the night or the week or…but nothing much longer than that and that's not what I want…to become another woman on your list."

"C.J. you could never be just another woman…"

"That's what you say now…but I think I heard you say that before too and like I said, I'm not interested in a meaningless fling with you."

Matt's face fell and she tried not to smile but he had to know where she stood on this with him.

"Okay…then just forget I even brought it up…"

She nodded at him.

"You know, I didn't say I wasn't interested…just not in the good time that you're seeking."

Matt furrowed his brow at that declaration but he caught her meaning.

"So what are you interested in then counselor?"

She looked directly at him.

"First I want this episode behind me…I don't think I ever really wanted to marry him. I guess I just had to stop thinking about not having a future with you."

His brows rose at that admission and she sighed, thinking in with a penny, in with a pound.

"I mean I know it wasn't fair of me to make that admission to you right before your wedding with Elizabeth."

"The one that never took place," he reminded her.

"Yeah well…a psycho killer can really put a wrinkle in wedding plans…"

He sighed and stood up.

"C.J. I never would have married Elizabeth," he said, "We just were two very different people who didn't want to change for each other. It never would have worked."

She folded her arms at him.

"Maybe…but I apologize for not bringing it up sooner…"

He took a step closer to her.

"But you did…you told me that you loved me when I was on the run."

Oh yeah she had done that, but then there had been extenuating circumstances then. Bullets blazing, buildings burning…Andrea getting shot to death in front of them, with only seconds left to live, what else was she supposed to do?

"Houston about that…"

He shook his head.

"Don't tell me that you didn't mean it…"

Now she really had lost patience with him.

"Houston…it doesn't matter if I did or didn't," she said, "We both moved on with our lives once you were cleared of murder charges and it's never come up since."

He had noticed that too.

"Well C.J…what's wrong with right now?"

She rolled her eyes at him.

"Why do you even care Houston," she said, "What's so important about rehashing this now…is it because I almost married someone else?"

He heard the mixture of weariness in her voice, mixed with anger. Maybe now wasn't the best time to talk about their relationship.

"C.J…I didn't drop in on your wedding because I was upset that you're marrying someone else, it was because of the man you were marrying."

Of course that had been the case, she figured, what had she been thinking? She really had to stop reading too much into Matt's altruism. He would have done this for any of his close friends or family. Okay, maybe she had been the only one in his circle who had been about to marry a hit man but something else along those lines.

"I know…I'm sorry if I implied something I shouldn't have but this…It's not what I want…I'm sorry."

"There's nothing to be sorry about," Matt said, "I'm sorry if I made it sound that's what I wanted from you."

She felt like walking away at that point, back to the house just leaving him standing there but she bit the bullet and decided to stop running.

"What is it that you want?"

Waiting for him to form an answer, she tried not to put much into it.

"You."

Did she just hear him right? She blinked her eyes at that revelation but he had looked her in the eye when he said it, not hiding anything.

"Why…you were about to walk down the aisle a few months ago," she said, "not to mention what I was planning to do earlier this week."

"I think we've both done a lot of soul searching since then," he said, "I know I've been doing it."

C.J. didn't know if she'd exactly call it that, because she had believed for so long that he didn't return her feelings and she had decided to move on and Elliot had been part of that decision, she realized now. But this latest development was way too much for her to process and she decided she needed some time to think…alone.

"Will you excuse me Houston," she said, "because you've really given me a lot to think about and I just need to do that."

He smiled.

"Take the time you need," he said, "I'm not going anywhere."

She shot him a look before she headed back to the beach house, not too sure about that.

* * *

The sunset looked beautiful, sending shimmers of the most gorgeous shades of reds, oranges and yellows merging into the purplish blues surrounding them.

But C.J. didn't have any time to enjoy the scenery. She had taken advantage of the time of day to slip over the electrified fence after taking precautions to protect herself and then landing softly on the sprinkler soaked grass on the other side. After that, she had rushed off to the far side of the building which now lurked in shadow and she looked at the great oak tree for the sturdiest branches before beginning her climb. Mercifully they held her lithe build easily enough and she scrambled up the tree to where it brushed the rose trellis and then after taking a deep breath and mentally counting to three, she gingerly stepped onto the creaking framework. She didn't know if it would hold her for long, but she had no choice. The schematics of the mansion had shown that this entrance offered the best chances for success.

She tried not to pay too much attention to the groans of the trellis or the way it vibrated with each movement she made and finally she reached the window which she knew would be partly open after the sun started going down. She tried to force it open without falling smack on the ground 15 feet below her and the trellis wobbled dangerously causing adrenalin to pool in her veins. God, she had so not signed up for this duty but even as she thought that, she knew she had to accomplish her goal.

She had to free the man she loved from the wicked witch that held him captive but she didn't have much time. To him, the witch appeared to be a beautiful woman named Erin but C.J. knew better. But right now, the witch would be down in her kitchen concocting her magic brew to place Matt even further under her spell. C.J. vowed even as she struggled to get the window further open that this would never happen.

Suddenly, with a jolt, the window opened wide and C.J. slid in the best she could manage and landed with a thud on the floor. She feared at first that the sound had reverberated through the old house and had announced her arrival but nothing had happened.

She looked around the room, her eyes adjusting quickly to the darkness and she saw him lying in the bed still dressed in the tux that he had worn at the impromptu wedding that he had engaged in once Erin had put him under her spell.

She had been a nurse once who worked in the ER and helped patients when they came in, including many who lingered between life and death. Matt had only a superficial flesh wound but in just a few minutes, she had captivated him and once he had an inkling that she had caused that in some nefarious way, it was too late.

C.J. approached the slumbering man carefully because after all, Erin could have booby trapped him. He appeared peaceful but she knew his mind remained suspended in some form of animation or limbo and only she could free him.

But like in a similar fairytale she had to kiss him first…not that it was any hardship. She just didn't know how her best friend would react when he woke up and saw her there. But if he did something like complain, she would just leave him with the witch forever after giving him a piece of her mind. So she told herself as she prepared to kiss him, for the second that their lips would brush and the kiss would deepen and break the witch's spell.

And so she moved closer to him but before she could kiss him, the thunder crashed and the lights flashed and the door to the hallway swept open with a clatter and in the doorway was Erin. Only not the way that C.J. had remembered her when wait a minute here, she had tried to slice her throat with a scalpel.

The scalpel appeared in Erin's hand again as her hand rose to slash her again…

* * *

C.J. woke up in a damp sweat, damn why did her dreams have to end like this, just when things had been getting…interesting…some dream force came between her and Matt. It had to be something in her own psyche that made that happen…perhaps because she had a hard time imagining what it would be like to kiss him. Well, she knew how thanks to this interlude at the beach house but after what he had just dropped on her last night…that he wanted to get together with her. Oh she wanted that too but it hadn't seemed right, not when she had been engaged just earlier in the week. When had she gotten so mixed up and life gotten so complicated?

She started out the week staring at her wedding dress just hours before she married a man she knew not long at all who turned out to be an assassin for hire and now she had been locking lips with her best friend…her _platonic_ best friend. But then they had that conversation the previous night about when she had declared her love for him and she had thought all these months that he had forgotten what she had told him in the heat of the moment.

But she had been seriously wrong about that because apparently unless she heard him wrong, he had just called in his marker on that situation. An action on his part she had never seen coming and now that it had, she felt helpless at what to do next. Mostly, she wanted to go with it and see where they both wound up but another part of her more cautious side felt that if it didn't work out, it would be the death of their friendship as they knew it. And she knew she could never face losing him.

She shook her head, tousling her hair as she got out of bed and headed to the shower mostly to clear her thoughts and after that, she picked out a conservative outfit that Xian had suggested she wear that made her seem somewhat…demure. She slipped on the dress and matching short heeled boots while getting dressed and then she headed out to the kitchen to make some breakfast before they went to do the live broadcast at Xian's impromptu studio.

Matt sat there already and she stifled a chuckle at what he was wearing. He clearly bristled in his three piece business suit but he looked quite impressive.

"I made some coffee and there's some eggs…"

She smiled at him.

"Thanks honey…"

She went over to serve herself. His brow arched at her and she smiled at him again.

"We both look the perfect picture of domestic bliss…very prim and proper."

Matt made a face.

"Yeah I noticed…well this plan had better work," he said, "How'd you sleep?"

She shrugged.

"Okay…what about you?"

He grimaced and she knew he wasn't even going to gloss over it.

"I tossed and turned," he said, "You know I meant what I said last night."

She sat down in a chair next to him with her meal.

"I know you did…but so did I and this is just going way too fast for me right now."

He seemed to understand that and nodded.

"I'm sorry about that but this had been on my mind a long time."

She tilted her head.

"It couldn't have been that long Houston," she said, "After all, you were just about to marry yourself not too long ago."

He grew silent, fingering his coffee mug.

"You were, weren't you?"

"Yes I was but I didn't go through it and I think I understand that it didn't just have to do with Elizabeth and me…but you and me too."

Her brows lifted.

"Houston…I don't think…I mean Elizabeth was about as different from me as you can get…if that's what you wanted so much, then you couldn't have had those feelings for me."

Matt sighed.

"I know that…that's why I broke up with her," he said, "I couldn't change for her and suddenly I didn't want to…I think it's that conversation I had with you.."

She put her hand up.

"Don't blame me for your decision not to marry her Houston," she said, "That was something you decided."

He rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"I know that…and that's what I'm trying to tell you."

C.J. looked at her watch.

"Well it might have to wait," she said, "We've got 30 minutes to get to Xian's for the broadcast and if I press the Ferrari to the max, we might just make it."

He threw her a dubious look.

"C.J. that's my…"

She shook her head.

"Later…we've got to get going…"

They both headed out of the house to the car to head off to appear via satellite on the morning talk show, trying not to think what was at stake.


	14. Chapter 14

Another update is up, thanks for reading and the feedback!

* * *

C.J. froze when she saw the camera aiming at her as she and Matt sat in a cramped shed that doubled as some sort of webcast studio. Who would have ever guessed that such technology existed? She surfed the web as much as anyone but she stuck mostly to research and okay, every once in a while she checked out the dating sites because with her frenetic schedule, it just was difficult to meet men who weren't insane or on their way to prison.

And maybe if she had used those sites, she never would have wound up with Elliot in the first place. But anyway, she felt so self-conscious in front of the camera right now, it definitely didn't look like a friend.

Matt looked even more ill at ease than she did and he had done some of these live talk shows before when they had been interested occasionally in an investigation he had handled or more often the latest woman on his arm.

Xian just had spent the past hour or so setting them up with lapel mics and had a woman named Chloe who looked like she had dropped out of the Sixties powder their faces up with makeup so their features wouldn't "disappear" in the lighting, she explained. Joey had actually dropped by and they had been surprised to see how different he looked from his days as a video game programmer. The case that Matt and C.J. had solved had sworn him off of robotics forever which made the police department at L.A. breathe a sigh of relief because his Joey models had turned out to be somewhat…homicidal. And if that weren't bad enough, one of his forays into artificial intelligence had nearly led to the annihilation of a gaming conference in Las Vegas. C.J. and Matt hadn't been involved in dealing with that caper but it had been all over the news.

Joey had woven his new found celebrity at stopping the killer computer into a contract with the State Department and on the side, a gig producing a morning talk show in L.A. After catching up on each other's lives, he had barked orders to Xian who took them willingly and at Chloe who just smiled at him indulgently.

So now Matt and C.J. sat in front of the camera with spotlights on them feeling very much under the gun so to speak.

Joey put up his hand with all five fingers to do the countdown to air time.

"Five…four…three…two…"

Everyone listened to some female talking head miles away in L.A. give the intro to how the viewing audience would be listening to an exclusive statement from the runaway bride and the man she was hiding out with.

"Kidnapper or partner in crime, you decide…."

Matt and C.J. just looked at each other.

"Okay, now this is where you come in," Joey instructed.

"And in the remote undisclosed location, our two guests are taking some time off from their adventure or…crime if you aren't sure what to call it to provide some insight into exactly what happened at the wedding that wasn't…okay so Matt…C.J…are you both there?"

They answered him in the affirmative, not sure what they had just gotten themselves into but it was too late to back out now.

"So what do you think of this runaway bride business, Ms Parsons?"

C.J. looked at the camera like a deer caught in headlights.

"What….?"

"Why did you jilt your fiancé at the altar…at the very last possible moment?"

Something inside C.J. her courtroom persona perhaps took control then.

"It wasn't the last possible minute…It was several hours before and I was preparing to put on my wedding dress…and I found these photos..Well let's just say I had second thoughts about marrying him then."

The talking head they couldn't see appeared to digest that news.

"What photos? Who were they of, were they of other women?"

C.J. just sat there as the talking head jabbered on.

"Were they of his mistresses; was he in them in compromising positions with them?"

She paused, wondering how to put what she had to say in words that dealt with a somewhat delicate topic of what Elliot did for a living.

"They were pictures of men…."

A pin dropping silence greeted her then from some point in L.A.

"Men that are now either missing or dead," C.J. said slowly, "It didn't make any sense at first but it did give me second thoughts about my wedding."

The talking head took a minute to recover from her shock.

"Dead men...What are you trying to tell the viewing audience?"

C.J. bit the bullet.

"My fiancé…Elliot is a hired hit man for the five families back East."

The silence that met that revelation lasted longer and the connection between the two studios had been broken. But then the talking head apparently recovered to ask more questions.

"Are you serious?"

"I've never been more so," C.J. said, "When Houston…he showed up he told me just as much."

"This is just so shocking…we're going to have to get a response from our other two guests on this allegation."

Matt frowned.

"Other two guests…?"

"Elliot and his sister Delilah who are sitting her in our studio right now, "was the cheerful answer from the talking head.

C.J. tried to keep herself composed while on the air but her hand went to her chest.

"Oh…"

"And now viewing audience we'll go to our other guests in our local studio for their responses to these allegations."

C.J. and Matt braced themselves.

"Lies…all lies…how can someone like that (beep) make up such (beeping) lies about my brother and what he does for a living? Ellliot's a well respected businessman not a remorseless killer…to say otherwise is just (beeping) ridiculous and it's slanderous but what can you expect from a (beeping) (beep)…(beep)…"

That sounded an awful lot like Delilah, C.J. guessed and she sounded rather irate.

"And what about you Elliot," the talking head said, moving on.

"I believe it's like I told you earlier, my fiancée is very overwrought and emotionally disturbed by the lies that this kidnapper, this wealthy playboy has fed to her in an attempt to brainwash her and turn her against me…she knows not what she says…"

"Okay…that's pretty straight to the point," the talking head said, "Would you like to comment to that Mr. Houston?"

Matt nodded.

"Yes I would…these aren't just allegations about the real Elliot, there's photographs in our possession that prove that they are true."

C.J. looked at Matt suddenly and arched a brow at him, and then she realized what he was doing.

"Yes…he's telling the truth…there are several photos which are in a very safe place."

The talking head digested that.

"Okay…could we get copies of them?"

Matt nodded.

"Of course, when the time is right," he said, "We'll send you instructions on how to receive them," he said, "You will find that everything that is said about Elliot being a professional assassin is true and so will everyone else."

Matt and C.J. thought they heard gasps from the other studio back in L.A.

"This interview is over," Matt said, and Xian nodded, cutting off the connection.

Joey smiled broadly at the two of them.

"Boy, you two haven't changed a bit," he said, "You do know that you've just gotten a very dangerous man angry with you."

Matt knew that but it had been a calculated risk and he knew he could keep the two of them safe. C.J. knew that too but of course she had worried more about him.

"Houston…I don't want anything to happen to you."

He stroked her hair off her face.

"Nothing's going to happen…We might not have the goods on Elliot and his crimes yet but we will…Roy can help us with information we got from the five families."

She nodded and then impulsively, she leaned towards him and kissed him softly on the mouth. Not longer than a couple of seconds but it didn't take even that long for the tingling sensation to fill either one of them.

Joey just chuckled, folding his arms at him.

"So when did this development take place?"

* * *

Matt and C.J. drove back in the Ferrari to the beach house and she let him drive this time content to gaze at the scenery as it flew on by. They always checked to make sure they weren't being tailed by Elliot's men or anyone else for that matter. She looked over at him as he appeared to be lost in thought while looking out onto the road.

"Houston…are you okay with this," she said, "I mean you've got a life back in L.A…"

He smiled at her.

"Murray's handling everything just fine along with Chris and Roy's helping us out," he said, "Everything's going to be just fine, and they probably don't even miss us."

She chuckled, thinking that might be true.

"I missed you…you know when you and Roy were out handling the field work," she said, "I understood why but it wasn't the same."

"I missed you too and when we do get back to L.A., we've got to…work on some aspects of our partnership."

The thought warmed her insides because she knew he didn't just mean their professional lives. He meant the more personal aspects as well, and she definitely looked forward to that even though she wondered how long it would last. Because even his engagements didn't last that long before going kaput.

But some things were important enough to chance risking.

They parked the Ferrari and headed into the house to change to head on down to the beach. She put on another bikini that she had picked up at the boutique and a wrap over it then her towel, before heading into the kitchen to get some snacks to take with her.  
It hadn't taken Matt long to decide to do the same thing.

"I'm thinking of taking a swim today," he said, "I might be getting out of shape."

She suppressed a chuckle at that while looking at his gorgeous physique.

"I don't think you'll ever have that problem Houston," she said, "but it's a nice day for it."

"What about you," he said, "Would you like to join me?"

She appeared to think about it.

"No, I might go on a light jog," she said, "and then I'm kicking back with a good book."

He sighed as he grabbed them both some sodas from the frig.

"We're going to have to be really careful now," he said, "Elliot's got no reason to sue for slander but every reason to come after us."

She nodded.

"I think the false trail we left will hold up for a while," she said, "but we're going to have to make some definite plans of what to do next."

"I put in a call to Roy to look some stuff up for us," Matt said, "I think we'll hear from him later this afternoon."

"Okay that sounds like a plan," she said, grabbing her things and they left to go down to the beach.

* * *

Matt did what he said he would do and went into the ocean to take a swim. She knew at this time of year it was about as warm as it would ever get but still quite cool but Matt moved through the waves with sure, swift strokes while she left their towels to go off on a run. Her muscles tightened a bit at first because it had been a while but once she started breaking out into a light sweat, she felt better. She ran on the densely packed sand with dunes blocking her view of some of the other houses that lined their same street. She could easily see why people lived here, or retreated to these homes to escape busier lives in the city. Doing that, made so much sense and she thought that maybe when they returned to L.A…she would seriously consider doing the same.

So much awaited her back there including figuring out what to do about Matt, because she knew she wanted what he did but it just all appeared so complicated. Their friendship had tightened so much over the years, it had been the one constant in her life and she knew that sometimes friendships between men and women didn't survive hitting the sheets.

And if that happened to them, great sex just wouldn't make up for that.

She focused on the path through the sand dunes ahead not aware that someone had followed her.


	15. Chapter 15

Matt walked out of the ocean and back onto shore looking around him before going to retrieve his towel to dry off. He couldn't see C.J. anywhere and figured she must have gone for a walk or a run. The swim had completely invigorated him and he felt more energized after hard exercise than fatigued, ready to tackle something more serious. Like going after Elliot and his murderous lifestyle, had to be a main priority.

But at least C.J. had not been tangled up anymore with that lowlife. If they had gone through with the wedding…Matt didn't even want to think about it. He didn't want that for the woman that had always been his best friend let alone the woman he loved…because he had to admit that part of the driving force behind his decision to go and bust up her nuptials had been because even if Elliot had been the patron saint of goodness, Matt didn't want C.J. to marry him.

Oh he felt like a heel for even believing that he had the right to tell her who she could and couldn't marry but these feelings…when had life gotten so complicated? He had thought only a few months ago that he would be entering into marital bliss with Elizabeth but then that wedding had been busted up by a madman and part of him…he had been loath to admit it at the time had almost been relieved. That had bothered him for quite some time because he really believed that despite his playboy lifestyle, he had been the kind of guy to settle down into a more domestic lifestyle with the right woman. And that had been Elizabeth, right?

Wrong on that one, he admitted to himself. More freely now than he had back then because in the back of his mind he had believed that another woman had staked her place there instead. Probably back when he hadn't been aware of it, when he had been working his way through his infamous Rolodex. The one that C.J. and Chris and Slim had joked with him about for the years they had known him. He had bristled sometimes at their banter because it carried a ring of truth to it.

He looked at his watch, nothing was on the schedule but maybe they could go out to dinner or order inside tonight. But the sunlight beckoned so Matt decided to relax some more on the beach hoping C.J. would be returning soon.

* * *

C.J. ran down the beach, noticing the calmness of the ocean next to her and the quietness around her. She hadn't really appreciated the peacefulness of her enforced sabbatical until several days had passed. It proved a great environment for thinking and reevaluating her life…which was necessary given that she had nearly married a hit man being none the wiser. Even if she had any suspicions about Elliot, would it have been enough to stop her if Matt hadn't shown up? And her feelings about him, they were all tangled up, because she knew that part of the reason she had gravitated to Elliot in the first place had to do with her feelings about her friend.

Because what did it mean when a woman kissed some man she had known her whole life only a day or so after running out on her own wedding? Seriously, she hadn't even told Elliot she would be leaving; she had just run off in a hail of gunfire, how normal was that?

She didn't need a man, she needed a good therapist.

Running helped smooth out her rough edges in her thinking of why she had been drawn to loser men with homicidal tendencies so much later because who could forget Robert? Seriously the last good boyfriend she had been with had been Carl and someone else had murdered him, to get at her. The pain from that loss had taken a long time to recede, maybe in some ways it never had completely ebbed away.

She stopped for a moment to grab her breath, wiping her forehead. What good could come out of overanalyzing her relationships with men, when she had to focus on how to extricate herself from one professional killer and his borderline sociopathic sister who had always worried C.J. more than a little bit.

Deciding to head back, she turned around and then she saw her…was that Ivory the neighbor and what was she doing all the way down here? Ivory looked up and smiled at her and C.J. started jogging, reaching her.

"It's a beautiful day," Ivory said, "Great for some exercise."

C.J. wiped her hair out of her face.

"I thought I'd get away from him for a while and let him do some guy things while I enjoyed some time alone."

Ivory nodded knowingly.

"That's good for any relationship," she said, "You've been together long?"

C.J. thought quickly, make it simple, she decided.

"Well it certainly seems that way sometimes but no, this is a new development for both of us."

Ivory smiled.

"He's certainly a looker…not that I'm looking…"

"He wants to marry but we really hadn't known each other long enough," C.J. said, "Besides I don't believe that something like that should be rushed into…"

Since when, C.J. thought feeling like kicking herself but she smiled instead.

"Not that he's not great but we've got to work a few of our idiosyncrasies out first."

Ivory nodded again.

"I can see why that might be important," she said, "so where do you hail from anyway?"

C.J. tried to act all casual.

"Oh L.A…originally but we might be thinking about relocating…I'd love to live near the beach fulltime."

"It's a great place...Though in the winter the weather can be quite harsh, the ocean washes parts of the coastline away and we get landslides sometimes."

"It's like that in Malibu where my boyfriend lives," C.J. said, "We've done our fair share of sandbagging."

Ivory chuckled.

"So been there and done that but on days like this, it's so worth it."

C.J. couldn't argue with that. Maybe she really would move out to a beach community like this one and commute to work…she knew that if the day ever came when she wanted to get married and have a family she didn't want to be living in the city. She wanted clean air and plenty of space for her kids to run around and be happy….like had been the case when she had been growing up back in Texas. She knew that Matt wanted similar…in fact a bone of contention with him and his fiancée of five minutes had been that she felt drawn to the city life whereas he liked to work in the city but wanted to retreat to a rural lifestyle to get away from the intensity of time spent in L.A.

"So what about you Ivory…what drew you here," she asked.

Ivory beamed.

"Oh my family grew up on a beach near Santa Barbara and I always remember fondly the times we spent paddling in the ocean and collecting sea shells…I wanted to do that as a grownup too."

"I can understand that."

"There's plenty of real estate left," Ivory said, "and it doesn't cost as much money as you might think."

C.J. didn't want to tell Ivory that money was really no object for her or Matt so she just nodded.

"I…we might look into it."

Ivory looked at her watch.

"Well I'd better get going," she said, "I have some ceramics to prepare for the kiln…I do that on the side…through an online store."

"That sounds great…"

Ivory nodded.

"I've got some orders even though I've only been at it a few months."

She waved goodbye and headed down the beach while C.J. started jogging again back to the beachfront in front of the house. As she approached, she saw Matt lying on the towel, but couldn't tell whether he was asleep or just relaxing after his arduous swim. He sure looked fine, his physique definitely accentuated by his swimsuit. She had never told him this but when she dropped by the ranch when he lived there in the morning when he swam his laps, she had been much more impressed by how he looked than she had ever let on. But he probably had been used to women lining up to compliment him on his great looks; she had been used to it as his closest friend.

She approached the towel next to him and sat down, reaching for her water bottle to take a nice long sip. The sun had been quite warm and a hint of humidity from the ocean dampened the air. Matt hoisted himself up on his elbows to look at her.

"Good run?"

She nodded.

"How was your swim?"

He smiled.

"Very energizing…how would you like to go out to dinner tonight or would you like to order in?"

She considered her options.

"I'd like to order in…actually…I think we've been out enough lately."

She reached for some sunscreen and put it on her skin. Matt watched, because she might be his best friend but she sure could fill out a bikini very nicely. She shot him a look catching him at it.

"What are you looking at?"

"You…"

"I can see that…but it's not as if we haven't seen each other like this thousand of times."

"I know but this is different…"

Yeah it was, she realized because they really had been conducting themselves a bit differently than they had during their friendship. She still remembered when they had kissed but she really shouldn't be thinking about that because everything was just so difficult now, too complicated for those types of feelings to spill over when everything was such a mess.

"I know…and it's just not a good time for that kind of different right now."

Matt sat up and stroked the hair off of her shoulders and she enjoyed it too much to say anything.

"It's all going to work out," he said, "The interview went great this morning and Roy's working hard on his end to help resolve all this."

She sighed.

"It shouldn't be something that had to be resolved," she said, "I really thought I knew what I was doing…but I think I was just trying to avoid reality and that's you…and the fact that it's hard to have feelings for you when your own social life is so complicated."

He moved on to caressing her back, and that felt even better. She really should say something but she just had been through this really stressful week and what he did relaxed her so she didn't feel so badly about it. She almost could believe what he had said, that it would all work out in the end.

But did that include them, because she did want something with him, she just didn't know what or what she could realistically expect from a guy like him.

"I think we could really work together," he said, "if we just take that leap."

What he said made sense but she didn't know if she could do that with him…she felt so nervous about what it would mean…especially if it didn't work out. Could she walk away from him if that's what she had to do?

"I don't know Houston…I don't know if I'm ready to take that leap."

"That's fine…I'm in no rush."

She chuckled at that.

"Oh Houston, you'll be back to L.A. soon enough to your busy life…that most of us can't even keep up with let alone understand how you seem to be on top of it."

"My life's as busy as I want it to be right here."

She sighed.

"At least it's not crazy like mine…between the wedding and hiding out here, I don't even know what I'll be going back to when it's over."

He looked at her.

"Why don't we forget that for a little while and go inside and figure out what to order for dinner," he said, "and keep it simple."

She nodded at his suggestion but inside she told herself that things were about to get anything but simple between them.


	16. Chapter 16

They stood a couple feet apart on the corridor of what looked like a galactic space ship with their blasters ready to fire at the enemy aliens. She had snuck on the ship to free him from the powerful queen of the aliens but after springing him from his cell, they had ran into some armed guards and had to fire at them with their blasters to get away. But the space ship had suddenly turned confusing and they couldn't tell one endless corridor from the next, they had kept running and running almost as if they had been on a treadmill. But she had an inspired thought and had grabbed his hand and had pulled him into a recess that looked like a weapon storage unit before some alien guards could see them.

"One wrong move and we might wind up being surrounded," Matt warned, as he looked both ways while she covered him with her weapon.

C.J. thought he might be right but she didn't travel across the vast galaxy in search for him, fighting a half dozen species of alien on about a dozen planets not to mention the evil forces that sought to enslave everyone including them. Matt had once been a general in the rebellion forces but he had fallen prey to temptation to make some extra cash on the side and had smuggled the wrong set of aliens who had betrayed them to their leader. So after she got the emergency distress beacon, she had to charter a spacecraft, get it blown up by enemy fire and then build her own replacement to make it this far.

But it had been worth it because she had harbored special feelings for this particular traitorous general not that she could ever help herself when he was within her vicinity. Certainly not given that she had sacrificed everything else she had held dear to her to come rescue him. But now that they stood side by side hopefully fighting on the same side to get off the alien ship, she wondered about him. Did he feel the same way about her as she did about him or was it all one-sided? She guessed she might be about to find out and she hoped she hadn't cast her loyalties the wrong way once again.

But at that moment, the footsteps in the distance grew even louder which meant the enemy was getting even closer. Matt turned to her and suddenly, he grabbed her around her waist pulling her closer to him and then he kissed her passionately, catching her completely off guard. And even as the alien forces came closer, she surrendered to her own feelings.

* * *

C.J. woke up suddenly thinking wait a minute here. That dream just appeared so illogical. Why on earth would she risk the safety of herself and someone else just for a kiss? No matter how steamy or scintillating, she always put the mission first. Certainly when working with Matt out on the field on one of their investigative cases. She sighed, looking around her in the darkness. Matt had fallen asleep on the couch after they had dined on pizza delivered to their door. All that swimming must have just worn him out, so she had headed off to bed, after tucking a comforter around his sleeping form, trying hard not to look at him too closely. Because she had been entertaining some thoughts lately and she just had to get this mess cleared up in her life first before she could do anything else.

Yes, Elliot had been a creep, but she had to resolve that relationship and put it in its proper perspective before she could move forward with her life. Before she could divorce that part of her life and focus on what would be in store for her next, something hopefully a little tamer than this at least for a while. She was pretty sure her vigor for something exciting would return soon enough. But would that involve Matt, because the chemistry between them had been somewhat different lately, both exhilarating and a little bit scary.

Like going sky diving which she had done with him several times. Jumping out of a plane, and having faith in her ability to handle her chute safely and a chance to see the earth from someplace up high. Suspended with the rush of air next to her and free floating until the hard landing, which she still hadn't mastered, but which left her with a feeling…like well, it was pretty obvious. Then she would look at Matt who usually landed on his feet given his greater experience and his brow would arch at her, asking was it good for you too?

But this was much different from sky diving, this was dangerous in a whole different way. In a way much different than being engaged to a professional hit man. She got up out of bed, to see that the sun had just started to rise and send shafts of golden light into the beach house. She went past the living room where Matt still slept to the kitchen to start up some coffee and some breakfast for the two of them. Xian hadn't called them about what the response had been to their interviews but she turned on the TV in the breakfast nook to catch up on the day's events.

"This is Kendra Wilkes and I'm here to report on the latest on the lovers on the lam, no sightings yet of them…but it's only a matter of time."

Then she saw some photos of a man and woman pop up on the screen and her eyes widened. They were of her and Matt and as for her, they had posted a photo from an award ceremony she had attended last year.

"The two lovers apparently planned the bust up at the wedding between her and Elliot that business entrepreneur and are holed up in some love nest between here and Santa Barbara.

Ken, the male anchor with the buzz cut just nodded on cue.

"She's the runaway bride and originally it appeared to be a kidnapping which turned into some Stockholm Syndrome kind of deal but apparently it was a ruse the two of them planned together so she could get out of her wedding."

Kendra sighed.

"What was that girl thinking,..how could anyone not want to marry that hunk of burning love Elliot, and what about the couple's shocking accusations that he's a hired killer?"

"Well no legal action has even been threatened from Team Elliot so maybe he's willing to forgive her and take her back once she comes back down to earth."

C.J. just watched these two talking heads discuss her life in amazement. Really, they had no clue what they were even talking about, if they thought she and Matt…they were…oh my god, she sighed.

She heard Matt enter the kitchen.

"Good morning…"

She grimaced.

"I'm not so sure about that…look."

He looked up at the television in time to catch a photo of his taken from his own wedding day.

"I can see the media's been very busy."

"I'm sorry Houston…"

"What do you have to be sorry about," he asked, "It's obviously a slow news week."

She took the eggs she had been mixing to the stove to pour onto the frying pan.

"This whole lovers on the lam thing is just so far away from the truth," she said, "and they're painting Elliot as the wronged fiancé."

"The truth about him will emerge soon enough," Matt said, "I'm sure the feds are getting ready to indict him and the whole bunch pretty soon."

She sighed.

"I sure hope so…"

He massaged her shoulders from behind and she relaxed against him.

"Then we can go back to L.A. and our lives there."

She turned around to face him, not sure of what he was saying.

"You mean back to working on cases," she said, "I really missed doing that…and I missed you when you were back East."

"Missed you too…"

Then they both looked back at the television to see Elliot sitting up with Kendra and Ken, dressed in a pinstriped suit. Kendra smiled at him brightly.

"News is you've just landed a contract to sponsor a men's cologne."

Matt and C.J. just looked at each other.

"Yes, that's true," he said, "There's no name for the product yet but I've signed the contract."

"I'm sure it will be quite successful," Kendra said, "You've really attracted a following what with your heart being smashed by the runaway bride and her lover."

Elliot sighed, a little bit too dramatically, C.J. thought.

"Well I really loved her but she clearly was too confused herself to really love anyone," he said, "I don't think she's really with this man of her own free will…I think she's operating under a diminished capacity and is being brainwashed by him."

Kendra nodded, serious now.

"So would you take her back if she returned to you, begging for forgiveness?"

Elliot smiled.

"I might consider it…but I would make sure that she agreed to seek professional help."

C.J. just rolled her eyes at the television.

"I don't need any such help," she said, "He needs to be inside a jail cell."

"He'll be soon," Matt said, "On multiple counts of murder and then he'll probably lose that cologne endorsement contract."

She scooped the scrambled eggs out of the frying pan onto a couple plates and he got some silverware.

"I can't understand why he's getting so much of the positive coverage," she said, "I mean if they could only report the truth about him."

Matt sighed.

"There's no accounting for the media's tastes," he said, "except that they don't appear interested in the whole story."

"It's not finished being written yet."

C.J. knew this and that the sentiment would change…well maybe when the media started showing images of Elliot in handcuffs and leg irons being escorted from jail to his arraignment but then again, maybe not. Maybe that could add to his celebrity and his apparent cult following.

They both dined on their eggs and some toast having had enough of the television. C.J. had decided that she might drive to do some shopping in the village while Matt hit the computer to find out more information that might bring down Elliot a bit faster. Roy had left a message that he would call him later after hearing from some of his own sources.

* * *

C.J. showered and dressed casually in denim shorts and a light jacket to head on to buy some more clothing. She had needed to get away from Matt so she could do some thinking about her future…before she could entertain thoughts about him. She shook her head at the media's depiction of them as being wayward lovers when nothing could be further from the truth. But then again, she knew there were feelings she harbored towards him that she had to face. Especially if it had been true that she had turned to Elliot in such a big way to escape them.

The drive proved scenic and she stopped at a designer boutique. For being a small town, the main thoroughfare boasted some pretty impressive shops. She stopped first at the one where some impressive looking dresses had been displayed in the window and she liked the royal blue strapless in the center. Oh yeah, she had to go try that on, so she went inside, not knowing that someone outside had been on her trail…


	17. Chapter 17

C.J. looked inside the displays in the stores around her. Mannequins adorned in styles which were in some cases, elegant and in others, outrageously gaudy. She admired them and decided to go inside to take a much closer look. Matt had work that he had to do and he didn't like shopping for clothes all that much but she did on occasion. And the blue strapless dress just called to her, like a siren.

She went inside to try it on…she didn't know where she would wear it maybe some party when she and Matt returned back to their lives in L.A. If she had gone through with her wedding…she kept thinking about that even when she didn't want…it hadn't been the first time she had hooked up with a killer unfortunately but once again, it had been Matt that had to set her straight. That bothered her because she hadn't been nice to him initially either time but he had just been looking out for her because they were after all…best friends.

It had looked like for a while that he might be getting married…to Elizabeth and she had been apprehensive about that in ways where she hadn't been aware of how deep her feelings had run and where they had really come from. But then that sigh of relief that had come when that wedding had been canceled, that had taken some figuring out.

Was it because she knew that Elizabeth was all wrong for Matt and would ultimately make him unhappy, yes that had to be it or so she had thought….because the alternative was just too difficult to contemplate.

That she might have been relieved by the canceled nuptials because she had wanted Matt for herself. Not as a lifelong friend, whose relationship had been stitched together by both joy and adversity…not even being a best friend…no…she really had to stop thinking because it couldn't be because she had been in love with him.

Of course she loved him, she had kept telling herself, she loved him deeply as a close friend and he had loved her in the same way. After all, they told each other that often enough didn't they…? But then sometimes…she had caught herself thinking about him in other ways…like the time he had locked lips with her after the frog jumping contest. Oh she had been the sly one…using her female frog with its cute little pink bow to entice Matt's male frog to take the winning leap that his championship jumping genes had given him. But then she had come up with that line after he had smiled at her all dressed up in his cowboy duds and had called her a slick item.

No, she had just been someone who had wanted to cheer him up, to make him a little happier like he had done for her…in no way had she been trying to score a kiss. Then again, her lips had done enough already by using what she now realized was a cheesy pickup line. Not in a bar over some drinks but at her best friend's ranch. And he had shocked her with that kiss…and it had taken her a while to get over it.

"Excuse me, may I help you with something miss…?"

She looked up to see a young woman with three different colors in her hair and a few spangled bracelets on her arms looking at her.

"Oh…I'm looking but that blue dress…it looks nice…"

The woman smiled.

"Would you like to try it on?"

"May I?"

The woman nodded and pointed the way to the dressing room.

"Just call me if you need any assistance."

C.J. took the lovely little dress and yeah, it would just about reach down to her knees meaning that it was designed to show off a little leg and the top part, to accentuate some cleavage. She could wear this to a informal party, between close friends, one preferably with great looking men present rather than a formal awards dinner or fundraiser. She stripped off her casual clothes and then slipped the dress on over her head and zipped it in the back. Oh wow, she thought when she posed in front of the mirror. She looked damn fine in it…it hugged her hips and tapered to accentuate her lean muscled legs.

Definitely add it to her list…even if she couldn't wear it for a while…she might throw in some more casual summer dresses to wear while they were hiding out …and maybe a couple of suits safe enough to wear in church for any press conferences where she didn't want to look too

"Oh that looks lovely on you," the woman said approvingly when C.J. posed in front of the mirror outside the dressing room.

"I like it…I might need to buy some shoes to do it justice…"

"You're a very attractive woman…and we do have some heels in the back of the store…"

C.J. smiled as she followed the woman to check them out.

* * *

Matt looked at the computer after getting off the phone with Roy who had given them an update on what was going on with Elliot and the feds. They didn't seem to want to do anything with him and she wondered if that meant they were gathering more information or interested in pressuring him with what they had to get him to give states evidence in court. He'd just filet the guy…not just for killing people but for what he had done to C.J. If he hadn't stopped the wedding…but then again she had enough sense to have broken it off…but then again he remembered the hail of gunfire that had followed their getaway.

She had gone off to do some shopping for some clothes and so he had called Roy after returning a terse call from Hoyt about why Elliot was on talk shows saying that C.J. had been brainwashed by Matt. The latest propaganda being circulated from the professional hit man no doubt.

Other than having to hide out, the time spent at the beach house with C.J. had been pretty great…they hadn't spent enough time together in quite a while and he had missed her…more than he would ever tell her…because after all she had been about to walk down the aisle with someone else. She had tried to tell him how she felt about his wedding to Elizabeth and he had blown her off. But then he had been caught up in what he thought he had wanted…only a day before it call came crashing down.

His heart had been wounded but he moved past it and he had realized that if he was ever going to get married, it would have to be to someone who accepted him and his choice of careers and could live with both.

Someone who would love him for himself and not his millions, his fleet of Lear jets, his estates and his yacht…someone who would forgive him his flaws and share both the ups and downs of life with him as a partner. No rush though, as he was still young and marriage didn't need to happen right away…because he had also asked himself if he were ready for it anyway and whether or not he could take the plunge again.

C.J. had told him she struggled with the same issues during one of those nights spent eating fine cuisine and drinking the house wine at Marcel's. She had taken a while to put her experience with Robert behind her and to move on and she wondered if she would ever find anyone to build the family that she never really had having lost hers at a young age. He hadn't known his mother, never having met her because she died at his birth but C.J. hadn't had either parent for very long.

And that had always stayed with her all of her life. Then not long after he had been recovering from his aborted engagement and taking undercover assignments to get out of L.A. she had met up with Elliot and in a whirlwind courtship that had taken place without him around, had nearly wound up marrying the guy.

When he had broken into Elliot's estate and found her in his suite, he had been taken aback by her beauty and by the sense that she viewed him with some degree with wariness when the man who would be her groom was the one to worry about not him.

Had they drifted that far apart from one another…but if they had, they had made up ground in the past week they had spent together.

* * *

C.J. hadn't known that she was being followed while in the store purchasing her clothes and so she continued down to the street to the DVD store to pick up some movies for the two of them to watch. Something besides action movies and westerns…maybe a romance or two….or a comedy…

But behind her the person tailing her got on the phone to make a call.


	18. Chapter 18

C.J. made it back to the bungalow where Matt waited for her, still on the computer. He looked as if he'd been at it all afternoon and still hadn't gotten anywhere.

"Hey, I need you for a few minutes…"

Something in her voice grabbed his attention away from his research.

"What…you have something to show me?"

She nodded and he followed her back to her purchases, pulling out the blue dress first. His eyes lit up as she hoped they would.

"It's lovely…I imagine it would look more so on you."

"I just saw it in the window of this boutique in the village and it called out to me."

He imagined how it would mold to her curves, the ones he had sometimes thought about holding onto why he…never mind…those were the kind of thoughts about his best friend that could get a guy in trouble.

"When you planning on wearing it," he asked.

She shrugged, putting it back down.

"I don't know…a party when we get back to L.A. when this whole situation becomes just another closed case."

He smiled.

"I'd like to throw that party…at the suite…or the beach house."

She considered that, running her hand through her hair, then she looked up at him.

"Maybe a private party…just the two of us…?"

He arched a brow up at her in question, wondering what she was getting at and hoping…

"Just so we can kind of decompress from all this excitement…," she said, walking away from him.

"What else did you buy," he said, "I see you have a couple more bags."

She tossed him a small bag which he deftly caught.

"I got you some action movies on DVDs and some romantic comedies but those are more for me."

He perused him and she had picked her titles well.

"Okay what else…"

She bit her lip.

"I'd rather not tell you…"

He looked at her surprised.

"Why…is it something personal?"

She sighed, returning to sit on the couch.

"Kind of…it's just lingerie Houston."

He sucked in his breath as all kinds of images swirled in front of him right now all of them starring the woman in front of him.

"Oh…okay I guess they are for someone else after all."

She just tilted her face, shooting him a look of reproach.

"Houston, they're for me okay…just because I buy lingerie doesn't mean it's for a guy…of course I might want a guy to see it someday."

"Ah…that's good I guess," he said, clearing his throat, "I guess I could get us something to eat."

"How about some sandwiches," she said, "I think I want to try out that swing in the back."

"Okay, that sounds great."

* * *

They moved into the kitchen to get out some cold cuts to whip up some sandwiches and she found some ice cold beers in the frig. They took their bounty outside in the heat, towards the swing which mercifully stood in the shady side of the back porch. They sat on it together and it creaked beneath their weight.

He bit into his sandwich, while she cracked open her beer and took a long sip. They ate together in silence, both rummaging through their own thoughts, not willing to test them on each other.

She brushed against his shoulder as she often did when they sat together, they were best friends after all.

"I really don't know why I did it Houston…"

There she had said it in the middle of lunch.

"Did what?"

"Got engaged to a professional hit man."

He sighed, sipping his own beer, reveling as it slid down his throat. He loved afternoons like this one spent with the scent of ocean in the air and hot enough so that an icy beer really hit the spot.

Along with just the right company, the best company.

"C.J. you had no way of knowing that he had a secret life."

She shuddered.

"Thank god, you found out and came to warn me before I could do something really stupid."

"You were about to walk away from him," Matt said, "I just wanted to be there in case he tried something."

"Which he did…he almost killed us."

Matt sipped his beer again.

"He didn't succeed."

"If he did…well I really messed up this time, even worse than with Robert."

He sighed.

"We all make errors in judgment C.J…I know I've done that and a couple times they almost cost the ones I care about their lives…like Erin."

Ah, Matt's one night stand turned fatal attraction who had C.J. on the ground with a knife to her throat when Matt acting with split second timing, shot it out of her hand.

"It's been such a difficult year…The deal with Robert, getting shot by the cultists…Bannon county…"

"I know…my cousin Will returning, and nearly killing himself."

C.J. remembered those times as well, it had been during the time she had distanced herself from him not wanting to interfering with his reunions with both Uncle Roy and Will who were his only remaining family. She felt gloriously happy for him even as a stab of envy hit her because she had no blood relatives left.

Her only chance to have that kind of family were if she were to have children of her own someday and she really wanted to do that…and when she had seen Elliot, a part of her thought he could be the one to father them. But just another example of her taking leave of her senses…but the eventful year they had just put behind them had left her vulnerable in more than one way.

"Losing Julia…and then Elizabeth…"

Matt looked up at her startled but she didn't look away.

"What about her?"

C.J. settled back on the swing, as it swayed gently.

"I know that she loved you and that you loved her," she said, "and I told you about how I was worried it would change things between us."

He nodded.

"And I told you nothing could ever do that…we've been friends for so long."

She rubbed her forehead with her fingers.

"Yeah well, you never married her…"

Matt sipped his beer. She had broached the subject carefully enough but he really didn't mind traveling down that road again.

"No I didn't but it had nothing to do with what happened at the wedding…not really," he said, "We're just too different people, with completely different lifestyles who happened to meet and fall in love."

She looked at him, as he reflected on the past.

"Why didn't you too reach a compromise, try to work past those differences…I mean if you loved each other…didn't you tell me if that were the case between two people, it was the only thing that mattered?"

Yes he had, Matt remembered while out to dinner with C.J. as she confided to him her misgivings about getting too close to Robert,

"Yeah I guess I did…but our differences were just too great…we would have wound up resenting each other if we'd tried to force the issue."

She pondered that truth, because she had learned that with Robert, because after all, she couldn't love a man who was a scheming murderer who killed solely to advance his own career. And he had tried to have Matt killed, a deal breaker if there ever was one.

The thought of him dead…or even suffering, it drove her to cry, like when he had been kidnapped and missing for 30 days. She'd nearly died with worry as he hadn't turned up, not until that phone call to her he made when he woke up into his nightmare not remembering much.

He'd been on the run and she'd helped him and when she saw the agony that he experienced as a result of brain washing by an expert hired to frame him for murder, it had torn her up inside, shards of pain far more sharp than the bullet wound to her shoulder that had separated them for nearly a month.

Oh yeah, and back then she had told them she had loved him, absolutely sure their lives were about to be snuffed out by a sniper's bullets just like Andrea's had been literally in mid-sentence.

He'd never answered her pledge of love, maybe because in the heat of the moment, a lot of stuff got said that wouldn't have been said otherwise. Maybe he thought she had loved him out of friendship, not understanding what she felt for him that moment had been far different.

What she felt had been more elemental, more primal and maybe if it hadn't been for the damn gunshot wound, she would have shown him once they got someplace safe enough…some place with a bed. Because she had wanted him so badly that moment, to hold her against him, to penetrate not just her body but her soul, so he could see how much love she had inside for him.

And maybe he would have accepted her love as a gift and not thought up a dozen of reasons why they couldn't give in to passion. But the moment she discovered that she had been bleeding, that window of opportunity had closed, and remained shut ever since.

Only her feelings hadn't remained as closed as she wanted them to…even her whirlwind rush to be intimate with Robert, giving herself to him only days within his arrival in L.A. at his apartment after they had dined at his favorite restaurant. Maybe she hadn't been nearly as enamored with him as she thought.

"C.J…why are you so quiet?"

Just like that, he broke the spell of her reverie. She sighed, the past should remain there, the present had proven precarious and the future, unknown at least until they dealt with Elliot.

"Just thinking…," she started with a sigh, daring herself to go forward, to let him inside that part of her that she had kept quiet.

"About what…about Elliot…?"

She shot him an indignant look.

"No way…I'd rather not…I'm thinking about when you got kidnapped last year and how scared I was when you were out there fighting for your innocence. I know Roy helped you but I wanted so much to be there."

He felt a trace of angst in her voice, but really there had been no need. She had been with him every step of the way, inside of him keeping him safe. He smiled as he kept a photo of her with him, worn around the edges but when his spirits dimmed, he would look at it.

And remember those three words she told him inside the building. She might think he'd never remember them but he hadn't forgotten. When they'd returned from Hawaii, he'd thought about his feelings towards her, but then Robert had swept in like a hurricane back into their lives, especially hers.

"I'm safe now…because of you," he said, "I'm sorry it got so crazy when we got back from Hawaii, all the media…all I wanted was to be with you someplace where we could spend some time together."

She shrugged.

"Robert was already in town and Houston, when I saw him, I don't know why I thought he was different than back in college."

Robert really hadn't changed, he just had honed what Matt know recognized as his sociopathic qualities, the same traits that had made him so charismatic had also made him lethal. Well now he had plenty of time to reflect on his actions while serving a life sentence locked up.

"You loved him…and when you had to do the right thing, you did it despite what it cost you."

She had betrayed the man that she thought she'd loved, the one that asked her to go to New York with him, the one she'd risked her friendship with Matt when her loyalties had been divided.

"Yeah…well it just seemed that I met Elliot at the right time… I had so much going on and you and Roy were back East on that undercover job."

"I know you went through a lot last year."

She sipped her beer thoughtfully.

"I had just gotten a call that I'll have to go back to Arizona in a couple months to testify in some hearing involving Piser and Butz over what they did…and Robert's been sending me letters begging me to give him a second chance and then Julia's memoirs were set to come out and it just got to be too much. I just went out and there he was, and he seemed perfect for what I needed…I just got in over my head."

He sighed.

"C.J. I didn't know all this was going on with you…if I had…"

She shook her head.

"No Houston, you were in deep cover, and you and Roy were so close to busting Elliot's bosses. You were where you needed to be."

But as they settled back in the swing, sipping their beer and lapsing into silence, he thought he might have not been there when she needed him before but now, he had no plans to be anywhere else.


	19. Chapter 19

She loved the way he looked at her just now, his eyes penetrating through all of her defenses. Before it had been like they were standing on opposite sides of the abyss but know, she felt him move closer to her, before he swept her up into his embrace.

When his lips touched hers, they were tentative but they didn't stay that way. His hands smoothed the fabric of her dress against her body at her waist, her back and finally in front where…

"Houston…they won't bite."

He blinked his eyes and looked at her and she almost chuckled at him as he finally did stroke where she wanted him with his fingers, her breasts pushed against her shirt and when his eyebrows narrowed just slightly that's when she knew he had felt her nipples harden beneath the fabric.

Oh she wanted him now in so many different ways, but she looked towards the dungeon door, surely the evil man that they had locked up inside there would break it down any moment, leaving its splintered edges on the floor. But Matt still explored her mouth with his own, his mustache tickling her face and then…she felt his tongue slip in between her lips. Her heart leapt because she had spent hours waiting for if not her prince, then this frog standing in front of her to kiss her just like that.

She felt it all the way to her toes, underneath the boots she had worn to scale the castle. The one where he had been held prisoner by the evil queen who had tried to weave a spell on him so he'd do her bidding…she had to work quickly to break any remaining hold the queen had on him.

So she did the only thing she could think of, hidden in her memories involving the fairy tales she had been told…and that's why she had kissed him.

Oh wait, now she felt the cool air against her breasts because Matt had undone her dress and his hands now fondled them as he leaned to kiss her again, the warmth of his actions filling her in ways that robbed her of her thoughts…

Crash! Bang! Ow!

Ow…?

Neither of them had expected that but one of the queen's evil lords had apparently stubbed his toe while kicking the wooden door down. A litany of profanities which followed confirmed that theory.

She looked at Matt, her mouth still swollen from his ardent attentions.

"We probably shouldn't stay here," she surmised, "We need to find a quick way out."

Matt glanced towards the window.

"There…"

Then the door finally came crashing down and the room filled quickly with men, bearing large swords.

C.J. lifted up quickly, her breath coming quickly. God, what a nightmare when the men had come after the two of them…then again wait, before that part, it had gotten downright steamy between the two of them. Chalk another wish fulfillment dream to add to the stack of them she'd experienced ever since she had grown old enough to look at the man beside her and want him badly enough to ache in places she hadn't known existed.

But no, she thought again, better not to mess up the best friendship she'd ever had, the one that had helped her so much in her life while her female friends shook their heads at it.

Telling her that guys…girls they were made differently for a reason. To propagate the species, not to be friends in the platonic sense where they could look and even long but never touch in ways they might regret later.

Before hitting the sack, alone of course, she had this long conversation over beer on the porch swing about what had led her down the path where she had been so close to marrying a professional hit man for the mob. She remembered expressing how Robert wanted a jailhouse relationship with her, and she had to testify at a trial about how she'd been forced into prostitution by a corrupt sheriff in Arizona. Then the death of Julia smack dab in the middle of that case involving the corrupted oil town and this whole deal with Elizabeth that she still couldn't figure out.

They had split up before midnight and headed to their respective rooms to sleep alone. But she had thought about him as she tried to drift off…what it'd be like if instead they had gone into the same bedroom for a change. One with only one bed, good sized of course which they would share.

And not for sleeping but her insides warmed as she allowed herself to wander down the forbidden path of sex with her best friend. Wasn't it something so common these days that it had its own title, friends with benefits?

No, she and Matt, they could never do that. After all, he had gone for women like Elizabeth, who were beautiful yet delicate, like china figurines and she'd be more the type who would bump into a shelf of them knocking them on the floor in shards of pieces. She never could figure out why Matt went for women like her and his previous fiancée who had been cut from the same cloth up to the moment of her tragic murder. Then there had been Christina the prim ice princess as C.J viewed her. Seriously there were moments during that helicopter ride to Matt's ranch when she had wanted to shove her out of the whirlybird. She could have always told Matt that they had hit a rough patch of turbulence.

The socialites he had worn on his arm, the nurses he had bedding including the one who later tried to kill her to have Matt to herself. Seriously, she had wanted to knock some sense into Erin and tell her that nothing existed between her and Matt certainly nothing salacious.

Matt loved her as his closest friend, valued her as a business partner but certainly had no desire to take their relationship any further than that. Meaning sex, and all the complications that would come with it.

But his confession about Hawaii had shaken her a bit, because he had admitted to wanting to be alone with her. That didn't necessarily mean time in between the sheets but the look in his eye…she had almost wondered enough to ask but then Murray, Hoyt and Roy had crashed their conversation with bottles of champagne to celebrate Matt's liberation.

Elliot, he had seemed so safe because she knew she'd never love him and her decision to accept his proposal didn't change that. He had his secrets clearly, those moments of silence between them but she never considered the fact that she might have gravitated towards another remorseless killer. Robert had killed to get ahead professionally and Elliot had done it as a career and she had given parts of herself to both men.

Because the one man she had always wanted remained way out of her reach and that's the way it had always been and always would be. She had to figure out once again how to accept it and move forward. After all, they still had their friendship and after this madness ended, their professional lives.

But despite that she still wanted more and she didn't know what to do about that.

* * *

Matt had tossed and turned not able to sleep well. His dreams had been of a brunette woman with impossibly sensual green eyes like the emeralds she had favored. The ones she wore over her creamy skin in one of his favorite dreams, mostly because that's all she had been wearing. She had been kissing his body, slowly by inch as he lay back his mind spinning. He'd clench the bed sheet when her lips found his favorite parts. She had just snuck into his bed like some form of seductress, really this couldn't be his business partner and life-long friend.

Then who was she?

He had traced the emerald necklace around her neck, looking into her face, just before he kissed her again, savoring the flavor of her mouth. Where the necklace rested on her breasts he had paid extra attention and her reaction in his dream had woken him back into the real world.

Where anything like what he had experienced with her didn't exist. In fact, she lay asleep in another room probably not dreaming like he had been. He lay back in his bed, the sheet tucked around him and tried to get back to sleep and not to dream.

But then a part of him so wanted to return to that world where the two of them broke their rules and had become lovers. So maybe as long as that existed in his sleep, then it didn't really count. He would never have to explain himself to her as to why like a guy, he looked at her wondering what she looked like underneath.

He knew that Elliot had hurt her, not so much through his actions except when he'd tried to take a shot at the both of them but simply by existing. For insinuating himself into her life and her heart while hiding his true nature from her…that being when he left town on those business trips, it was to do a job meaning rubbing someone out usually a business rival to those who held his contract. She had been vulnerable when she met up with Elliot and that had partly been his fault. He and Roy had just ran off across the country to do this surveillance job for an old friend and left her alone without much of an explanation.

Elliot had just happened to be there at the time, while ironically his bosses were being closely watched by Matt and his uncle. And Matt wanted to pound his head in for what he did and continued to do to his friend.

The woman who filled his dreams at night lately, most likely due to the close proximity they shared these days and nights. But as soon as they dealt with Elliot and the rest of his cohorts including his sister, the sooner they could return to their lives in L.A. and things would return to normal. Yes, that would definitely be what happened, he thought as he felt his eyelids close again.

But as he drifted back to his dreamland, a part of him rebelled against that reality.


	20. Chapter 20

C.J. put the latest issue of the newspaper down thinking she had read just about enough. She had picked it up that morning to see Elliot's face splashed again on the front page with the headline "Jilted" on top of his crestfallen face. Wait a minute, she had ditched their nuptials quite a while ago and he was still playing the wronged fiancé angle.

Why wasn't anyone paying attention to the fact that he'd been exposed as a professional hit man? And not just any hired killer either but one who worked for the five families…instead of as a poster child for jilted men everywhere. Her image on the other hand hadn't been doing nearly as well. She was being portrayed by that talk show duo Ken and Kendra as the scarlet woman, the one who no man could trust not to love him and leave him hanging. They hadn't quite yet figured out how to define Matt yet but give them enough time and they would paint him as her partner in crime, a villain by the same brush. She had her own issues with her best friend but that was not fair at all. Fortunately, he'd gotten up with the sun to go running on the beach. She hadn't had any of those crazy dreams she'd been having mostly because she'd tossed and turned about some of what he'd been saying to her.

About their relationship and how it had been changing even while they had both been engaged to different people. Their respective weddings had both pretty much gone ka-boom before they could even take place and the engagements had gone bust as well. Matt had never married Elizabeth and she, Elliot. She didn't know if Matt harbored regrets over what could have been with his fiancée but she only got sick when she thought about what could have happened if she'd wound up hitched to the professional hit man.

Matt had saved her once again from an evil man she'd gotten to close to only this time she'd listened to him rather than gotten angry and threatened to walk away from everything they'd built together. She got up away from the headlines and went to the kitchen to stir up some breakfast. Damn, she thought she really had to start picking her men better. Stay away from narcissist sociopathic characters and psychotic killers. Maybe next time she'd try a professional matchmaker.

She got into the refrigerator and pulled out the carton of eggs. Just what she needed now was to whip up an omelet and put some chilies in it along with sausage and ham. She took several eggs to crack into a bowl and then whip into a frothy mix, just perfect for her favorite recipe.

Matt's ranch hands Bo and Lamar had taught her how to make it while they worked at Matt's Texan ranch, the one where he lived before he'd moved here. Matt had great cooking skills and he'd patiently helped her gather her ingredients while Bo laid out the instructions in language a future Harvard trained attorney might understand. She took some colorful looking chilies out trying to remember if they'd been part of the recipe and then figured it didn't really matter as long as they gave it some flavor and kick.

She heard the door open from somewhere and realized that Matt had returned from his run and sure enough, he walked in the kitchen dressed in his workout clothes. He went to get some water to drink.

"Hard run?"

Matt sipped his water looking at her.

"Those dunes are tougher than they look."

She nodded wondering why he'd chosen to work himself so hard when they were hiding out on a vacation. But he never allowed his fitness level to drop, always wanting to remain sharp for whatever happened. She knew at this point that anything could happen especially if Elliot was intent on revenge.

"Any trouble…?"

She frowned at his question while pouring the egg mixture on the skillet.

"No…why I mean beyond the latest headlines about the scorned groom…?"

He looked at her and then at her cooking, seeing all the ingredients lying on the kitchen counter, knowing that she engaged in culinary pursuits mainly to relax.

"C.J…you planning on feeding an army…?"

She looked around her at the peppers that she still had laid out and the carton of eggs.

"No Houston, I'm just making an omelet," she said, "Would you like one?"

He nodded.

"More greens and less reds though," he said, "C.J. you know Elliot's going to be exposed when the five families case goes to court."

She sighed, working the omelet as it sizzled.

"That could be months Houston," she said, "I've never been vilified like that before not even when Robert was arrested."

Because she had participated in the sting that Roy and Matt had concocted to bring the murderous anchorman down…she'd been treated almost like a femme fatale, Delilah to his Samson. She wondered why the media gave these men all the breaks and painted the women as being the villainesses.

Her omelet was finished soon and she scooped it on a plate to enjoy while Matt cooked his own so he could join her. She remembered back to when his wedding with Elizabeth had gone bust. The columnists for the social sections of the newspapers had been more sympathetic with him though there had been this ongoing debate for a while among them and various talk shows about whether or not his profession had needlessly brought danger into their private lives.

C.J. hadn't envied Matt's personal life being put in the spotlight for debate and discussion like that and when it had been her turn…she had almost left town for a while.

"C.J. it won't last long," he said, "I'll make sure the truth about all of Elliot's crimes come to light."

She rolled her eyes.

"Oh great then I'll just look like a dimwit woman who can't tell Prince Charming from Jack the Ripper."

She walked to the breakfast nook with her omelet and some fresh orange juice and he watched her dressed up in some faded cotton sweats and a tee-shirt that rose just off of her pants exposing some creamy skin. She's always been a beautiful woman; the way she looked often took his breath away though he never said anything about it to her. Didn't want to spoil what they had going between them which was their tight friendship.

Matt followed her in a few minutes after he'd finished his own omelet shaped somewhat like the state of Texas. She smiled at that as he sat down next to her.

"You're a woman who loves with her whole heart and who takes chances," he said, "and he took advantage of that and of you…he's the one who did wrong not you."

She looked up at him from her food.

"Thank you but after Robert I really thought I knew better than to get involved with another criminal."

He paused with his meal and looked at her carefully, choosing his next words even more so.

"Maybe you got involved with Robert a bit quickly but…"

Her eyes flashed for a moment but then she nodded slowly instead.

"Maybe you're right Houston…"

She didn't want to finish her thought because it might take her where she didn't want to go.

"I have a feeling it was something that I did."

She looked up at him sharply. Actually when she'd thought about it, it had been something he hadn't done or more accurately hadn't said…but he wouldn't know that.

"What do you mean?"

He sighed, after taking another bite of his omelet.

"I'd been thinking about it lately," he said, "what happened when I got set up for murder."

She closed her eyes thinking he was so close to nailing it and her. At least in the ballpark already.

"Yeah what about it…?"

He paused again.

"When a beautiful woman told me that she loved me…."

Oh wow, he'd cut to the chase so quickly considering that night and what he said had stood between them for nearly a year. Back when they'd been dodging bullets after Andrea had been killed and she hadn't been shot in the shoulder yet.

"I said that because I thought we were both going to die Houston."

Her eyes looked guarded when she said just that much and he knew that there was a lot she wasn't sharing with him. That she'd kept to herself for months about what had transpired between them. How she'd told him that she loved him and he'd said nothing basically blowing her off.

Well, up to the point where it all got buried because she discovered she'd been hit by a bullet and he had to risk his own freedom to get her to a hospital.

"I know…but I never even answered you."

She smiled to make glide over the feelings that remembering had stirred in both of them.

"You didn't have to…I wasn't expecting it, it was just something I had to tell you."

He picked up the faintest trace of wistfulness beneath her smile and matter of factedness.

"It deserved an answer," he said, "I should have…"

She shook her head.

"No Houston, things were so crazy back then," she said, "You'd been through so much already…everyone was after you and then you'd nearly died after watching Andrea get killed."

"You nearly died too," he said, "I didn't think I'd get to the hospital soon enough."

But he had and had nearly been carted off to jail while she'd been rushed into surgery without a chance to say goodbye to him. Then weeks without seeing him or even knowing he was safe. That whole experience had left her emotionally raw including when it came to him and she might have been more susceptible to Robert's charms than she might have been otherwise.

"But you did Houston and we're both here now."

He nodded because that was certainly true and she'd become even more beautiful. It reminded him of that night so long ago when they'd both been in high school…he didn't know why he thought about it now but…

Then the doorbell rang interrupting them both and they looked at each other wondering who it might be.


	21. Chapter 21

C.J. opened the door after Matt had pulled his handgun out and palmed it out of sight. They flashed each other that look and then both turned their attention to the door. She opened it cautiously after seeing the top of red hair piled up on a woman's head.

She didn't recognize her so C.J.'s guard went up and she could sense that Matt's own body had tensed at the unfamiliar sight.

"Hi….I'm Cinder…I know you might not know me but I sell beauty products door to door…like Avon."

Matt and C.J. looked at one another. She folded her arms at Cinder who appeared in front of her dressed in casual dark slacks and a white print blouse. Her hair looked like it had originally been dark brown judging from the roots.

"You're who?"

Cinder just smiled.

"I'm a friend of Xian and Joey's…they told me that you were on one of their live stream broadcasts."

C.J. tilted her face.

"How do you know them?"

Cinder ignored C.J.'s watchful posture and moved into the living room admiring the décor while both Matt and C.J. just watched her carefully.

"We hung out at the coffee shop together…back when we were in L.A.," Cinder said, "Of course that was a while ago and this venture of ours was in its inspiration stage."

"Neither mentioned you."

Matt slipped a hand on C.J.'s shoulder still standing behind her as they both looked at Cinder who didn't seem too flustered by their inquiries.

Cinder just walked over to a chair and sat right down.

"They told me all about your situation."

C.J. just looked at her.

"What do you mean my situation?"

Cinder leaned backward in the chair obviously enjoying herself.

"You were going to marry some jet set millionaire…not this one and he turned out to be some kind of professional hit man."

Matt rubbed his chin watching Cinder weave out some sort of narrative of C.J.'s relationship.

"When did you find out anyway," Cinder asked, "Just before you met this lowlife in Armani at the altar?"

C.J. sighed despite herself.

"Something like that."

Cinder nodded knowingly.

"I know the type…I don't know if Joey or Xian told you but I almost had a fatal romance."

C.J. furrowed her brow.

"They didn't tell us anything about you so how would we know that?"

Cinder shrugged, as C.J. and Matt went to sit down on the couch opposite from where she lounged.

"So you know about Elliot and his sister," C.J. asked, "What do you know about them?"

Cinder sighed.

"I read about them in the trades…you know Delilah had ambitions to break into Hollywood when she was younger. Her family promised to pull strings if it'd make her happy but it never worked out."

That didn't surprise C.J. all that much. Delilah had a histrionic bent to her personality that had already manifested itself on several occasions. Not to mention that Elliot would do what it took to please his sister just like she had done for him by promising to be C.J.'s bridesmaid at the almost wedding.

"I don't doubt that."

Matt leaned forward.

"So why are you here?"

Cinder leaned forward too and smiled broadly.

"To help you of course…looks like you need some serious help about now."

Matt and C.J. looked at each other again and then at her.

"How so…?"

Cinder just rolled her eyes at C.J.

"This coming from the woman who nearly married the hired help of one of the top Five Families…and had to be rescued by Romeo in cowboy boots over here…"

C.J. frowned.

"He's not Romeo…he's my…"

"Don't tell me, he's your best…platonic male friend."

C.J. rubbed her forehead.

"Look…Cinder I'm sure that you mean well but Houston and I…we've got work to do here and I really don't think…"

Cinder's eyes narrowed.

"No you really don't think do you," she said, "Joey told me all about you, how you got your law degree at some fancy high fluting school back East but you don't know a thing about enjoying yourself."

"Excuse me?"

"I mean don't get me wrong he thought you weren't a bad lawyer at all, but you just seemed so very serious."

Cinder just kept talking about someone she knew nothing about…after all, C.J. hadn't really gotten to know Joey all that well. Just during that case that she and Matt had taken on to keep Murray from going off on a deep bender because of fears that he might lose the money he had invested for an orphanage that he sponsored. Back then, one of Joey's robots had shot the CEO of a major electronics company where Joey had been working to invent a virtual reality game that had been the target of espionage attempts by rival corporations. But while Joey's robot had pulled the trigger, Joey himself had been innocent and some disgruntled secretary working there had done the deed. Last heard, she was spending 20 to life in the state penitentiary after being convicted of murder.

One of those victims had nearly been Matt…who had been baited by the woman to come and rescue C.J. Back then, they had handled a lot of crazy cases like that one until things had grown more serious when some of Matt's enemies started coming after him, playing for the highest stakes.

Sometimes she missed those more carefree days back when they had worked so closely together as a team.

"I had to be professional…he was looking at potential murder charges," C.J. said, "which carried the death penalty or at least a very long prison sentence."

Cinder nodded.

"Yes but even at the company party when he was absolved he said you showed up in that dreary grey knit dress…"

"Hey that's one of my favorites."

Matt chimed in.

"Mine too…though not for the same reasons."

C.J. just shot him a look and he arched a brow at her.

"That party got a little wild when Serena showed up and threatened to break crystal."

Matt sighed and that attracted Cinder's attention.

"I'm sure there's a story here…."

Matt rubbed the bridge of his nose not wanting to revisit that night when his ex, a spoiled heiress from Italy showed up expecting him to waltz back into her arms. Things didn't go as she had planned and she'd reacted by wrapping her manicured talons around anything within reach and throwing it against the marble pillars.

C.J. sighed.

"Just one of Houston's ex flames showing up to liven up a party," she said, "Insurance paid for the damage."

"Sounds like both of you need to come with good insurance and anyone that hangs around with you."

C.J. shrugged.

"It's not that bad…anyway how do you plan to help us," she said, "I think we've got it all under control."

Cinder smirked.

"You do…yeah right…I heard there was gunfire in the rose garden and they were contemplating explosives when you bolted from that wedding."

C.J. hadn't been too sure about the explosives but both she and Matt had come close to adding to their bullet scar collections.

"Joey really wants to help you get this Elliot guy," Cinder said, "and I'm a bit soft on Joey…not in the romantic sense of course but I do like to see him happy so I'm offering my assistance."

C.J. believed that Cinder sounded sincere enough, she just didn't know how much Joey's friend could handle especially if the pyrotechnics began shooting off again in earnest. Matt heard his phone buzz and looked at it.

"It's Uncle Roy…I'll take it in the kitchen."

C.J. nodded and watched Matt walk with his phone out of the room leaving the two women alone. She turned to look at Cinder who had also watched Matt leave.

"He's quite a hot looking guy," Cinder mused, "No wonder you left Elliot high and dry."

"I didn't do that because of Houston…I did it for me. Once I found out what he did for a living, no way was I going to marry him."

Cinder leaned forward.

"Then why did you hook up with him in the first place…if he's such a bad boy or was it because of that?"

C.J. shook her head.

"No…I'm not deliberately into bad guys…I just needed a change after Houston and his uncle took off on a business trip and so I went to a party and that's where I first saw him."

"So what's the story then with Matt here," Cinder continued, "Are you into him too?"

C.J. just stared at the woman for a moment.

* * *

Roy had told him immediately that Elliot and Delilah had continued their forays on the talk show circuit selling the image of him as the wronged party, the man who had truly loved the lady lawyer who had jilted him at the altar in an onslaught of violence.

Matt just listened disgusted. The only violence that interested him was in breaking Elliot's face over a hard unyielding surface…because when he thought about what could have happened to C.J. it made his heart drop. What would Elliot have done if he knew that she had discovered the truth about him starting with the photos she discovered?

Love and romance would have gone out the window, replaced by the realization that he'd have to kill her to keep her silent. His hand not holding the phone clenched at his side.

"So Uncle Roy, you dropping by later," he asked.

"Sure…you want me to bring some takeout from this Thai restaurant your cousin and I discovered?"

"Sure…but we've got to come up with the next stage of our plan to bust Elliot," Matt said, "so that we can get our lives back to normal."

"You mean like things were before C.J. got engaged?"

Matt sighed.

"No I mean the way life was before I got so buried up in my work I forgot to spend time with my best friend."

Roy paused.

"I think that's what the two of you need to do…to spend time with each other."

"That's what I want to do," Matt said, "The two of us were a great team and I miss that."

"I think she does too Matlock," Roy said, "and that might be why she got engaged to Elliot."

Matt realized that but once they got Elliot out of the picture, then maybe life could go back to normal for the two of them. Maybe even better than it had been before…everything had changed…at least that's what he hoped.

But the two of them had a lot to talk about first just like they had been doing. About their past together, their present and most importantly their future.


End file.
